Incognito
by Southern Steel
Summary: There's a new boy on the Sandlot...or is there? With days filled with baseball, fighting, baseball, and more baseball, could there be something else going on? Who or what is Robin McCallister and why is he so secrative? Not slash.
1. Chapter 1: My Disability

****_**Hey all! I'm back and I hope ya'll like this story. It's not the typical "girl-who-plays-baseball-and-falls-in-love-with-Benny" story. This story is going to take many twists and turns and hopefully be interesting the entire time. Updates will come slow, and I'm sorry for it, but I have had an extreamly sever case of writer's block for the past year. I'm going to do my best to update this story as well as my story in Unnatural History. **_

_**This chapter is just an introductory chapter and-to be honest-sucks. Hopefully the following story will get better. One final note: this story takes place after "The Beast"-they will all be in 9th grade (I'm assuming they were just in 7th or 8th when the movie took place)-and Bertrum has left, leaving the team one player short again. With that said, onto the chapter!**_

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><p><em><span>Chapter 1: My "Disability"<span>_

I once read a book that claimed that "being a woman" was a "disability."******* Most people would probably say that that was sextist. Me, I say it's true. Especially in this day and age when girls can't do anything but cook, clean, and go shopping. Girls can't do anything fun like play baseball, goof off, play baseball, act stupid, play baseball, fight, ect. Oh, did I mention play baseball?

It was just my luck to be born a girl. I'm the least girly girl you will ever meet. My mom left when I was just three, leaving me to be raised by my father. Dad never did understand women, so he raised me the same way he was raised. I haven't worn a dress or skirt since Mom left and I've never done anything girly like have a sleepover or do "make-overs" or any nonsense like that. Instead, I was raised to love nature, camping, wrestling, and, most of all, baseball.

We had always lived on the same old farm. It was five miles to the closest town; the school was complete ten miles away. I never did like that school. The boys teased me for being a tom-boy and refused to let me hangout with them, and the girls would have nothing to do with "the freak in pants." It came as a shock to me the day Dad announced that we were moving to the city.

"It's just a small city." Dad had explained. "More of a town really."

"Why do we have to move?" I had shouted once the shock wore off.

Dad had sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I was fired today." Dad worked as a cook at a local resturant."And I can't pay off the farm anymore. We have no choice."

No matter how much I begged, the situation never changed. We began packing immediatly and were ready to move by the end of the week. The day we piled into the old farm truck was the same day I made the descision to rid myself of my "disability" in an effort to start a new life in this new place we were going.

The day we moved was the day I, Robyn McCallister, became "Robin." Dad was a little hesistant, not wanting me to jump into something as crazy as masquerading as a boy. But after a little convincing, he gave in and agreed to my plan.

On the way to our new home, we stopped at a barber shop and I had my bright red hair cropped short to my head. I wore the baggiest jeans and T-shirt I owned and pulled my Los Angelos Dodgers cap down low over my face.

My disguise didn't fool Dad at all, but he admitted that because I was about the size of a boy my age-I'm five foot five- and lean, sun-tanned body, I did look like a teenaged boy. And so, with my disguise in place, the McCallister family began our journey. As I leaned against the window of the truck and watched the scenery fly by, I smiled, glad to no longer have to worry about my "disability."


	2. Chapter 2: New Identity

**_This chapter is also just an introductory chapter and is pretty boring and sucks as well. The next chapter will be far more interesting though, I promise. Also, in the last chapter I said this story takes place when they are in the 9th grade. But after watching the movie, I realized they were only in about 6th grade when the movie took place. So this story will take place in 8th grade. Bertrum is still gone. _**

**_Jacob's Little Sister, thank's for the review! I did as you suggested and changed the summery. Hope it's better. I'm not good at summeries at all. haha _**

**_Hope ya'll enjoy the story! _**

_Chapter 2: New Town, New House, New Identity, _

Dad had been right. The "city" we moved into really was just a small town. We drove past the small middle school that I would be atteneding Monday, then a public pool, and finally Vincent's Drug Store. Once we reached the store, we turned down a road and passed house after house after house. I could already feel myself getting clausterphobic. I had never seen so many house so close together.

Dad pulled into a bright yellow house with a "sold" sign in the front yard. I groaned quietly. I never could stand bright colors and this house was the brightest I had ever seen. Dad shut the engine down, but we just sat there for a moment, studying the house.

"You sure you want to do this, Robyn?" he asked, refering to my massquerade. "There's still time to back out."

"I'm sure." I answered quickly. No way was I going to give up my new found freedom so soon. "It'll be fine, Dad. Really." I smiled.

He smiled back.

"All right. Let's get unpacking then."

"Bet I can get done faster then you!" I laughed as I jumped out of the truck.

"You're on!"

We spent the rest of the day running from the truck to the house and back again. I won the race easy having less stuff to bring in. I started to help with the rest of the things, but dad told me to go ahead and start unpacking my things.

"Just pick a room you like." he said from behind two big boxes. "There's two downstairs and two upstairs."

"I'll be upstairs!" I announced.

I walked in the front door and grabbed one of my boxes. Walking through the living room, I noticed three doors going down a small hallway.

'Two bedrooms and a bathroom.' I guessed correctly.

The stairs were directly in front of hte front door, but I decided to explore downstairs first. Only other thing down there was the kitchen and dining room, so I hurried up the stairs. One room was at the far end of the hallway, and the other right in front of the stairs. There was a bathroom right in the middle of the two. One other room-a study I suppose- was also upstairs.

The room closest to the stairs was a bright pink, so I shut the door and walked to the other room which, luckily, was a dark blue. It was a medium sized room with a bed, nightstand, dresser, closet, and a desk and chair. A window was between the bed and table and gave me a view of a small backyard with a fence.I studied the furniture and smiled when I saw that it was mine from our old house.

"So that's the surprise Dad was talking about." I said aloud, remembering how Dad had said there was a surprise in an upstairs room.

I placed the box on the floor and hurried back down the stairs to get the rest of my things. I was done fairly quickly, but before unpacking I went back outside to talk to Dad who was bringing the last box inside.

"When did you send the furniture over?" I asked him as I took the box from him.

"The day we left." he smiled. "That's why we stopped over night. So the movers could move all the furniture in. Do you like your room?"

"I love it!" I smiled back and hugged him. "My favorite color!"

"Well you better get unpacking and cover the walls with all your posters." he laughed, knowing I couldn't stand blank walls. "Otherwise you'll go crazy tonight."

"Thanks Dad." I smiled and hurried back upstairs.

It didn't take me long to unpack. Three boxes held nothing but posters, pictures, and a couple of dream catchers to hang on the walls. I pushed those three to the side and started unpacking my clothes. Jeans, T-shirts, long and short-sleeved jersey's, two bathing suits, underwear, socks, and several baseball caps were all I owned. I quickly placed the jeans, T-shirts, underwear and bathing suits in the dresser. The jersey's I hung in the closet. I laughed when I realized I had an extra drawer in the dresser, so I placed the five caps in the extra drawer.

I moved the clothing box out of the way and opened one of the two remaining boxes. My baseball card collection and several trophies all went on top of the dresser. On the table I placed my journal, a notebook, a couple pens and pencils, and a few books. The nightstand would hold my lamp, a few more books, a clock, and the picture of me as a baby with my mom and dad.

I smiled softly as I looked at the picture.

"Why did you leave, Mom?" I asked the picture quietly.

Receiving no answer, I placed the picture back down and started to decorate the walls with baseball posters and pictures of me and Dad back home. Within an hour, I had the walls covered and went back downstairs to help Dad.

I was surprised to see that night had already fallen. Looking around, I spotted Dad in the kitchen, unpacking kitchen supplies at the same time as cooking supper.

"Need any help?" I asked as I walked in.

Dad jumped and I laughed when I realized I had scared him.

"Don't do that!" he exclaimed, being overdramatic and holding his heart. "You gave me a heart attack!"

I laughed and started helping him unpack. We went to bed early that night and spent the next day finishing unpacking. It didn't take us as long as I though it would, and there was still a few hours of daylight left.

"I'm gonna go walk around town, Dad!" I shouted as I walked out the door.

"Be back in an hour." He yelled back. "We're having burgers for supper!"

"I'll be back!"

I spent the next hour walking around town. I only lived a few blocks from the school, about a twenty minute walk, so I decided that when school started tomorrow I would walk. It was warm out, so I wasn't surprised to see a few people still at the pool. Realizing my hour was about up, I started back home. When I passed Vincent's Drug Store, I noticed an entrance to a sandlot. I could hear the sound of a baseball game, so I quietly walked over and peeked inside.

I instantly liked the place. It was rundown, but it looked like a good baseball field. I noticed that there were two sets of boys playing a game. Nine of the boys were dressed in neat uniforms with the word "Tigers" on them. The other boys-there were only eight I noticed-wore jeans and T-shirts. Obviously this sandlot was theirs as they didn't look like a team.

But boy did they play like one! Even with one player less, they were good. But that one player made up for a lot, I noticed, when the game ended and the Tigers won, though it was only by one point I heard one of the sandlot boys yell. Triumphantly, the Tigers got on their bikes and started riding toward the entrance. Not wanting to be seen, I quickly hide behind a bush and waited for the laughing boys to move on.

I frowned when I saw that they were all rich and snobby. I overheard them cursing the boys in the sandlot and making fun of them. It only took me this one meeting to know I wouldn't like any of them.

From behind me, I heard the other boys starting to exit the sandlot, so I quickly made my escape. I started walking down the road to my house. I didn't walk very fast as I was looking around and studying the neighborhood. I didn't even realize how close the sandlot boys were.

"Hey boy!" I hear someone shout from behind me. "Hey!"

I stopped and turned around. A couple yards behind me stood three of the eight boys I had seen be beat. The one who had yelled at me-a short, chubby, freckled-redhead-spoke up again.

"You new?"

"No." I replied sarcastically. "I've lived here my whole life."

"Then how come..." the boy started.

"Yes, I'm new." I inturrupted. "Names Robin McCallister."

By then the boys had walked up to me. The boy to the left of Red was short with dirty-blonde hair and sunburned skin. He wore a button up T-shirt with khaki pants. The other boy was tall, probably about 5 foot 8-with dark, tanned skin and black hair. He looked Latin American to me. Not that I cared.

"I'm Benny Rodriguez." the tall boy replied, holding his hand out. When I shook his hand, he introduced the other two. "This is Scotty Smalls." He pointed toward the small boy who said a cheery "Hi." I nodded in greeting. "And Hamilton Porter. We call him Ham."

The redhead spit to the side in greeting. Again I nodded.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"Where you from?" Smalls asked. "You sound weird."

"Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes. "I just moved here from Texas."

"Neat." Smalls chirped. "You starting school tomorrow?"

"Unfortunatly." I replied. "Never have liked school."

"Amen to that!" Ham exclaimed. "School sucks!"

Rodriguez simply nodded in agreement.

"I gotta be goin'." I announced, noticing that I was at least fifteen minutes late. "See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya." the three boys replied.

I turned around and started walking. I heard Rordriguez and Smalls say by to Ham and start walking behind me. I reached my house quickly and walked inside.

"Dad! I'm home!" I yelled, noticing as I shut the door that Smalls lived a few doors down from me and Rodriguez on the other side of the road.

"You're late." he shouted back. "The burgers are gettin' cold!"

I hurried in and we ate quickly.

"So who were those boys?" Dad asked with his mouth full.

"Just some boys I met on the road." I replied. "I found a sandlot. They were playin' a little league team. They were real good."

"Well maybe they'll let you play with them." Dad said.

I didn't reply and went on eating. That night, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about the day. I wasn't ready for school the next day, that I was sure of. Could I really pull this off? What if someone realized I'm a girl? I was still worrying when I finally fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Five Minute Enemies

_**Woo! Two chapters in one day! I'm on a role! haha Anyways, I hope ya'll are enjoying the story. It's going to start getting more interesting from here on out. I hope ya'll like Robyn/Robin. Whenever someone is talking to her who knows she is a girl she will be "Robyn" with a "y." But to any who are talking to her and thinks she is a guy, it will be "Robin" with an "i." Also, I'm making Phillips a lot bigger bully then he is in the movies. He's going to be an even bigger bully then in my other stories (New Kid and Revenge)! I just don't like him so I make him as evil as possible. haha So I think that's enough of me rambling. Hope you like this chapter!**_

_Chapter 3: Five Minute Enemies_

It seemed as if I had just fallen asleep when I woke up. Rubbing the sand out of my eyes, I looked at the time and saw that it was just seven. School started at eight. I sighed as I threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. It only took me ten minutes to shower. I frowned when I remembered that I had to wear fancy clothes. No jeans or T-shirts allowed. My frown deepened when I realized I hadn't brought the box with my school clothes up.

Luckily, Dad had remembered for me and had brought the box up to my room and placed it at the foot of my bed. I opened it and picked out a large pair of khaki pants and a blue shirt with a clean, blank jersey to go over it. I thought about putting the rest of the clothes up, but glancing at the clock, decided to wait till I got home. I started to leave the room, but paused to grab my glove and a baseball to take to school to give me something to do after school.

I hurried downstairs and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Dad was still asleep, which surprised me because he was usually an early riser to. Then again, I thought, he probably stayed up late rearanging his room. I put the bowl in the sink and, after one last glance to see if Dad was up, I scribbled a quick note to tell him I'd be walking around town after school. Then I grabbed my backpack and walked out the door.

It was a twenty minute walk, but it was only 7:30 so I had plenty of time. I figured I would be one of the only ones walking-I hadn't asked, but I figured the town was big enough to have a bus system-so I was a bit surprised to see two others out already walking down the sidewalk. I easily recognized them as the boys from last night-Rodriguez and Smalls.

They were about a hundred yards in front of me. They didn't turn around or notice me, so I just followed quietly behind them. The redhead from last night-Ham- joined them soon after I started following them. More kids were out, but I saw several were just standing at street corners, waiting on a bus. The boys I was following, though, just kept walking. Over the twenty minute walk, the five other boys from the sandlot joined them.

From where I followed them, I could hear them all laughing and joking and talking about baseball. The twenty minute walk went by fast and I quit following the boys as soon as I got to the school. I had my schedule already-Dad picked up while I was out walking-but I had no idea where I was going.

I found my locker easy, but after that I got confused trying to find my way to Homeroom. I frowned as I studied the map and the schedule. I had already passed my History, Math, English, and Science classes, but the Homeroom kept avoiding me. With give minutes left till the bell rang, I finally gave in and looked around for someone around my age.

He was about my age-thirteen-and about my height with neat, dirty-blond hair. He looked familier, so I guessed he was on the other baseball time I had seen at the sandlot. He was surrounded by four or five other boys. Nervously, I walked up to them.

"What do you want?" the boy barked as I walked over to him.

"I was just wondering if you knew were the 8th grade homeroom is." I said, instantly wishing I had picked someone else to ask.

"Why should I tell you?" the boy was clearly enjoying the fact that he knew something I didn't.

"Never mind." I replied with a small grin. "I thought you would know. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were just as lost as me."

"I'm not lost!" he exclaimed angerily.

"If you weren't you would have had no trouble telling me where homeroom is." I replied, crossing my arms in front of me and staring at him.

"You have a smart mouth, you know that?" Venom dripped from his voice as he took a step closer to me.

"Why thank you." I replied, my grin getting larger.

"Wh..what?" he asked, clearly confused.

"You called me smart and you don't even know me. Thank you." I heard laughter from behind me and saw the boy's face turning red. "Since you don't know where homeroom is, I'll be going. Thank you."

With that, I turned around and started down the hallway in the direction-I hoped-of homeroom, leaving the boy and his friends standing there confused and mad. I heard people walking behind me, so I paused and turned around, hoping it wasn't the boy I had just angered. I was lucky. It was the guys from the sandlot. I resisted the urge to slap myself. I had already talked to three of them. Why didn't I go look for them and ask them? Oh well.

"That was great!" One boy I didn't know told me when they walked up. He was a little shorter then me and an African-American. "You left Phillips more confused and mad then I've ever seen him!"

Just then the boy-Phillips-and his friends rushed by, brushing my shoulder hard as they passed.

"I take it Phillips is the bozo who doesn't know where homeroom is?" I questioned loudly, making sure the boy heard. At there nods-I noticed there were just three of them, the other two being Rodriguez and Ham-I continued. "Do you guys know where homeroom is?"

"Down this hall and to the left." Rodriquez replied. "We're headed there now. Come on."

I nodded and waited for them to start walking and followed them. We got to the room just as the bell rang and I realized I had passed it at least five times, if not more. How the heck could I not find it?

There were four seats still open, so we quickly took them. I sat down in the seat farthest from the front, which really wasn't that far since it was in the second row. Rodriguez sat in front of me, and Ham and the other boy in the other two seats. The teacher-a balding, middle aged man-frowned at us, though he didn't say anything since we were technically there on time.

"All right class." he began in a monotone voice. I groaned when I heard his voice, knowing I wouldn't be able to pay much attention to anything he said. "Say hello to our new classmate, Robin McCallister." He lazily motioned toward me and I squirmed slightly as I felt the classes eyes on me. "Now open your notebooks and copy down these announcements." He motioned to the board where several things were written down. "Then finish any homework and talk quietly."

'Well this will be easy.' I thought, glad that the teacher wouldn't be talking much.

I quickly copied the words on the board down, and pulled my Last of the Mohicans book out of my backpack and got to reading. I had only read about a paragraph when a voice interrupted my reading.

"So what did you move for, Robin?" It was Rodriguez.

I placed my bookmark in my book and laid it down before replying.

"Dad lost his job and couldn't afford to keep the farm."

"Farm?" Ham asked, looking at me funny.

"Yep." I replied, knowing he was probably wondering if I was a redneck or a cowboy. "Dad owned a little farm. Couldn't hold much cattle-maybe only fifty head-but we had a pretty good garden that brought money in and Dad was a cook at a local restaurant."

"Where are you from?" the other boy asked, clearly confused at how Ham and Rodriquez already knew.

"Texas." I answered.

"Cool." he said, then held his hand out. "I'm Kenny DeNunez by the way."

"Robin McCallister." I introduced needlesly and shook his hand. Then I asked. "So who were those guys in the hallway?"

"Phillips and his minions." Rodriguez scoffed. "They're on the Little League Team "the Tigers." They think they're a bunch of hotshots just cause they've beat us the past few times we've played them." He clearly wasn't happy bout that.

"Ya'll are on a baseball team too?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"No way!" Ham exclaimed viciously. "That would make us as bad as them!"

"Then how did you play them?" I was definatly interested.

"We play on a sandlot near Vincent's Drug Store." Rodriguez explained. "Anytime we play them it's not an official game. It would be just for fun if they weren't such big cry-babies and braggerts."

"We've played them three times this month," Kenny added. "They've won everytime cause we're a man short."

"If you're short a player," I was confused, but also a bit hopeful. "Why do you play them?"

"Cause it's fun." Rodriguez shrugged. "Though it would be nice to win again. Hard to when you've only got eight players."

"Why don't you get a ninth player?"

The three boys looked over at each other in confusion.

"Tell the truth we've never really thought of it." Rodriguez admitted.

I looked at them in confusion, but didn't ask any further. Clearly they didn't want another player if they didn't even think of getting one. Ham opened his mouth to say something, but he was inturupted by a familier voice from behind me.

"I'm willing to ignore that incedent in the hallway," I turned and saw that Phillips and his goons had moved to sit behind us. "If you apologize."

"Apologize for what?" I asked innocently. "I didn't do anything but ask you were homeroom is. _You're_ the one who should be apologizeing to _me_."

"What for?" Phillips snapped, his hands clenching into fists on the desk behind me.

"Well you clearly know where homeroom is, so you should apologize for lying to me and saying you didn't know." I smirked.

Now, I don't normaly go looking for fights, but this kid was just to easy to anger. Behind me, I heard the three sandlot boys trying not to laugh. They weren't hiding it to good.

"I never," Phillips was talking slowly, his anger clearly evident in his voice. "said that."

"Maybe not," I replied calmly, "but you implied it when you didn't tell me."

"That's it." He hit the desk with his fists. "I was going to give you the chance to apologize. Heck, I was even going to be nice and let you carry my bag for baseball since you're new and all, but you can forget that now!"

"Why on earth would I want to carry your bag?" I asked incredibously. "I ain't a slave."

"It would have helped you," Phillips' voice was filled with uncontained anger. "To make friends. If people were to see you hanging with me, they would all want to be your friend to get closer to me."

"Like I would want to hang with a self-centered brat like you." I replied coldly. "And I definatly wouldn't want to be friends with people who would use me to get to you. I'm not a puppet."

"You're going to pay for that, birdie." Phillips glared daggers at me. "You better watch your back."

"Birdie?" I laughed. "I'm so insulted."

His fists clenched tighter together.

"Besides," I smirked again. "I prefer to compare my name with Robin Hood, not the spring bird. He is who I was named after after all."

That wasn't the truth, but no one could know that. I was named after the bird and Mom, being the unique woman Dad says she was, changed the "i" to a "y". Robyn, not Robin. I was always proud of my name and my favorite bird was the robin. It hurt to make fun of my own name, but it was a sacrafice I would have to make if this masquerade was to work.

"You better watch your back." Phillips repeated, before getting out of the seat and moving to the other side of the room, kicking several kids away in the process.

"Is he always that big a jerk?" I asked, turning around to face the three sandlot boys.

"No," DeNunez replied. "He's usualy worse."

"You better be careful." Rodriguez warned. "He may be an arragent brat, but he's not afraid to use his fists. Providing he has backup and your outnumbered of course."

"You sound like you have experiance with that." I replied.

Rodriguez shrugged.

"We all have." He said. "That's why we never walk alone anymore. We're his favorite targets. Looks like you'll be on that list now too."

"Don't tell me your afraid of him." I raised an eyebrow.

"No way!" Rodriguez shook his head. "Just cautious. He's insane and a bully. Those two things never mix."

I nodded my agreement, remembering several bullies from my old school who used me as a punching bag until I learned to defend myself.

"I think you managed to anger him more then any of us ever have." Ham laughed. "And in just about five minutes too!"

"What can I say." I shrugged. "I'm good at making enemies. Though, five minutes has to be a record."

"You're good at making friends too." DeNunez said, motioning toward himself, Rodriguez, and Ham.

Just then the bell rang.

"You play baseball, Robin?" Rodriguez asked as we walked out of homeroom.

"You bet!" I replied enthusiastically. "Best sport ever played!"

"Definatly!" the three all agreed.

"How'd ya like to come to the sandlot this afternoon and play with us?" Rodriguez asked.

I thought about what Dad would say if I didn't come home right after school, but I knew he would just figure I made friends and went to hang out with them.

"All right." I agreed. "Where is it?"

"We'll take you there." Benny replied. "That way you can't get lost and ask directions from the wrong people."

We all laughed at that before going our seperate ways to the next class. I found it hard to concentrate during English. All I could think of was how glad I was that I had put my glove and ball in my backpack that morning. I couldn't wait for school to end.


	4. Chapter 4: The Sandlot

**_And another chapter! :D I'm on a roll today! haha One note before I shut up. I never went to public school, so if the schedule is off, I'm sorry. Please correct me if I made a mistake, I don't have any idea at all of how public school schedules work. This chapter is definatly more interesting (I think) then the last three. Hope ya like it! :)_**

_Chapter 4: The Sandlot_

School passed excrutiating slow. There were three classes before lunch-Homeroom, English, and Math. Benny and Kenny were in all of my classes, but so was Phillips and at least three of his goons. I quickly learned that as long as Phillips was in the class, the day would drag on and be pure torture. Whenever the teacher's back was turned, me, Benny, and Kenny were pelted with paperwads and, if they had sat near us, pokes with pencils and fingers and other objects. Phillips had even jabbed me hard in the back with scissors during math. Needlesss to say, I couldn't let him get away with that. So the next time the teacher's back was turned, I reached under the desks and stabbed him in the leg with my sharpened pencil.

When lunch finally arrived, I was introduced to the rest of the sandlot gang. Timmy and Tommy Timmons-both short, though Tommy (the youngest who repeated his brother nonstop) was shorter, with light brown hair- Yeah-Yeah-another short boy with brown hair who had an annoying habit of saying the first words of a sentance twice-and Squints-a nerdy looking boy with big black glasses-were all in 7th grade, as was Smalls, which explained why none of them were in any of my classes.

There was a baseball game going on and I got my first taste of what I would see that afternoon. Benny hit an easy homerun, sending the ball way past the left fielders head. He was crossing home plate by the time the ball got to second. Man, that boy was fast. I watched the game enthusastically, it being te first game I had seen in a long time.

After lunch, there was History and Science as well as a thirty mintue period in homeroom. Luckily, lunch speeded things up and the school day drew to a close in no time. I gathered my bag and headed to my locker to get a book I had forgot, leaving Benny, Ham, and Kenny in homeroom talking. I got the book quickly and had turned to stuff it in my bag when the locker door slammed shut.

Spinning around, I came face to face with Phillips. His hand was on my locker door, leaning against it as he smiled evily. Quickly I placed the book in my backpack and slid the bag to where it would fall off my shoulder easy should I have to make a fight of it. Glancing around, I realized that if I had to fight, it wasn't going to end pretty. All nine of the Tigers had circled around me.

"What do you want, Phillips?" I asked coldly.

"I told you to watch your back, Birdie." He snarled, moving his hand from my locker. "Looks like you didn't listen to my advice."

Before I could do do anything, two of Phillips' goons grabbed my arms and held me there. I struggled, but there grip tightened.

"What's the matter? Can't fight your own battles?" I asked, giving up on struggling. "Only wimps have others fight there battles for them."

"I am fighting my own battle!" Phillips was pratically yelling.

"Fight me man to man then." I told him, grinning slightly at the words "man to man." "Don't use your goons to make your battle easy."

Phillips didn't reply. Instead, he answered with a swift punch to my stomach. A gasp of pain escaped and I would have doubled over if the two goons hadn't held me up. I hated to admit it, but the boy had some streangth to him and the blow hurt bad. He punched me three more times in the stomach, then gave me a right hook to the cheek. The goons let me go and I fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

I struggled to my knees, but two kicks to the ribs sent me back to ground. Then the kicks didn't stop coming. I wrapped my arms around my face, protecting it from any stray kicks. I knew it was futile to fight back. Nine on one was not good odds at all, especially with my on the ground unable to breath. Someone kicked the back of my head and I felt blackness start to overtake me, but I fought back.

"Hey! Stop that!" I heard a voice yell.

The kicks stopped and I scrambled to my knees. I started to get to my feet, but two hands roughly pushed my back down and held me on my knees. My ribs and abdomen hurt from all the kicks, and I knew bruises would be forming. It was hard to breath, but I considered myself lucky that no ribs had been broken. A headache was forming, but I wasn't knocked out luckily.

"What do you want Rodriguez?" Phillips snarled.

I looked up and saw that Phillips had one hand on my shoulder. Looking in front of me, I saw the sandlot gang and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let him go!" Ham ordered.

"Why should I?" Phillips taunted, tightening his grip on my shoulder. "Now who's fighting who's battles, Birdie?"

That's all it took to send me over the edge. If there's one thing I do, it's fight my own battles. Reaching my arms up, I grabbed ahold of Phillips wrist and quickly flipped him over my kneeling body. The other hand's grip loosened and I tore loose, coming to my feet quickly and stumbling the few feet toward teh sandlot boys. Rodriguez and Kenny grabbed me and held me steady as I took a few breaths and straightened up, my arm wrapped around my aching ribs.

"I fight my own battles, Dung Brain." I announced. Looking around at the sandlot guys I added, "Thanks for showing up."

They all nodded and smiled.

"Get out of here, Phillips." Rodriguez ordered.

"You're all going to regret this!" Phillips snarled as he backed away. "Especially you, Birdie!"

"Come up with a more originial nickname, Pinhead!" I barked back.

Then they were gone. I walked over and picked my bookbag up from where it had slipped off my shoulder. Standing, I again turned toward the guys.

"Thanks. I couldn't have stood much more of that."

"Why didn't you fight back?" Timmy asked.

"Fight back?" Tommy repeated.

"Couldn't breath." I answered. "Nine on one isn't good odds, even if I had been able to stand."

"Where'd you learn to do that flippy thingie?" Squints asked as we all started walking toward the exit.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah added. "That was awesome! The look on Phillips face was priceless!"

"We use to have to put up hay during the summer on the farm." I explained as we exited the school and started walking. "I use to flip it over my shoulder into the truck. Didn't expect it to actually work on a person though."

"You all right?" Benny asked. "They got in some good licks it looks like."

"Just a few bruises and some sore ribs." I answered. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe you should go home." Kenny sounded worried. "Being kicked in the ribs is a dangerous thing."

"Yeah, yeah!" Did he always start sentances with that? "I saw a man get kicked in the ribs once. Must of broken one, but he refused to go to the doctor and the next day he was dead!"

"When did you see that?" Squints asked, taking his glasses off, squinting, and putting them back on.

"It was on a TV show." Yeah-Yeah admitted. "But still!"

"There's no ribs broken." I told him. "I'd still be on the ground if they were."

"How would you know?" Ham questioned.

"Being kicked by a horse is no fun." I laughed. "Neither is a weeklong hospital visit."

They all just gaped at me as if I was an alien.

"What?" I asked.

No one said anything. A few moments of silence occured before they all started talking about baseball. I pretended to listen, but really I was secretly cheering my diguise. Here I was surrounded by eight guys who didn't even suspect I was a girl! Not to mention Phillips and his team. I shivered when I thought of what they could have done if they had known my secret.

By the time we had reached Vincent's Drug Store, I was starting to get nervous. I hadn't played baseball in a few months. Dad had been working to much to play with me.

'What if I've gotten bad?' I wondered silently.

"Here we are." Ham exclaimed dramatically as we entered the sandlot. "Sandlot sweet sandlot!"

We all laughed as he threw his arms out in an overdramatic way. We made our way to the worn out dugout and dropped our bags. I reached inside to grab my glove.

"Hey Robin, do you need a glove?" Benny asked.

"Nope." I replied, turning around and putting my glove on. "I got mine. I was planning on walking around town til I found somewhere to play. Good thing, huh?"

Benny nodded in aproval.

"Go to left center."

I nodded and hurried to my position. Yeah-Yeah was at second, Smalls in right, Squints at shortstop, Kenny was pitcher, Ham catcher, Benny batter, Tommy third, and Timmy first.

"Robin! Go two!" Benny shouted as he tossed the ball in the air and hit it.

I watched the ball carefully, ran backwards a little, jumped and just barely caught the ball. When I landed, I fumbled a little for the ball, but I got it to Yeah-Yeah fairly quickly. I was rusty, I knew, but it was still ok. I saw several of the guys nod in approval. I grinned, wondering what they would be doing if they knew that they had just approved of a girl.

It went on like that for thirty minutes or so before we all started switching positions and batting. Gradually my actions got smoother as I once more got familier with the actions of baseball. I relaxed considerably when I realized that, other then a little fumbling and miscalculations, I hadn't gotten any worse. It also felt good to know that I wasn't the worse on the team. I wasn't the best, or even third best, either. I was somewhere in the middle, but for someone who had never played on a real team before, that was pretty good.

Finally it was my turn to bat. I had to borrow Benny's, but he didn't mind.

"This here's my heater." Kenny announced as I stepped up and brought the bat back.

"You'll never hit this." Ham announced. "It's impossible. You can't hit it. Did you see that girl in history?"

I blocked Ham out as much as I could, which was fairly easy considering I didn't care about any girl in history. I kept my eye on the ball in Kenny's hand. He wound up, released. I kept my eye on the ball, swung, and hit nothing but air. Everyone laughed, but I just shook it off and took another practice swing.

"Let's try that again!" I yelled to Kenny.

He grinned and wound up. I watched the ball as he let it go. This time when I swung, the bat made a loud "Crack!" and the ball went flying into the outfield. I dropped the bat and didn't look to where the ball was hit. I rounded first, then second, I had just started to round third base when I caught a glimpse of the ball as it landed in Ham's glove.

"Pickle!" he screamed.

"Ah crap." I muttered as I took a slow step back, watching his arm.

Ham feinted, but I didn't fall for the bait and took another step back toward third. Then he threw it and I ran as fast as I could toward home. I heard the ball hit Tommy's glove, heard the yells as he threw it. I was still ten feet away from home. I saw Ham begin to move toward me, his empty glove waiting for the ball. I slid. It was close, but Ham just narrowly missed tagging my back and I got a homerun.

Everyone ran in to congratulate me and I knew I was grinning foolishly but I couldn't help it. It was my first home run. We quickly went back to playing and for four more hours we played. It was the most fun I had had in awhile. I was happy for it to end though, my ribs were really aching and I knew I was going to have to take a nice warm shower before to long to make the pain go away.

We all started on our seperate ways, me, Benny, Ham, and Smalls walking together. I noticed that everyone stayed together as much as possible and remembered the fight. Dad definatly wasn't going to hear about that.

"See ya tomorrow!" Ham yelled as he ran across the street to his house.

Smalls was next with Benny preparing to cross the street as I walked on.

"Hey Robin!" he called out.

"Yeah?" I said, turning around as he ran back over to me.

"Do you walk to school or ride the bus?" he asked.

"Walk. I was right behind you guys this morning." I laughed.

"Oh." he sounded embarassed. "Well it would probably be safer if you walked with us tomorrow. Phillips isn't above waiting in ambush."

"I realize that." I replied. "Thanks. See ya tomorrow."

"See ya."

We went our seperate ways.

"Dad!" I called as I walked into the house. "I'm home!"

"Where have you been?" Dad yelled back from the kitchen.

"Remember the sandlot I told you about yesterday?" I said as I sat down at the kitchen table. "The guys who play there invited me to join them."

"You've already made friends?" Dad sounded surprised. "That's got to be a record."

I chuckled as I thought of the five minute enemy record I had made as well.

"Is it all right if I go with them tomorrow to?" I asked.

"Of course." Dad replied as he brought a plate of eggs over. "Spend as much time with your friends as you want. I take it you didn't tell them your secret?"

"Heck no!" I exclaimed, shocked that he would even think I would give it up this soon. "They wouldn't have anything to do with me if they knew I was a girl!"

Dad sighed.

"Sweetie, sooner or later you're going to have to tell them."

"I've known them one day, Dad!" I said. "They don't even know me yet. And I thought you were all for my disguise!"

"I am! I am!" Dad raised his hands in defense. "I just don't want you hurt because of it."

I winced slightly as I thought of the beating.

"I won't get hurt Dad." I said as I started eating.

That night I lay on my bed thinking over the day. I didn't think twice about my masquerade. This was the most freedom I had ever had. I had friends for the first time in my life. I wasn't about to give that up. I thought about Phillips and his gang. I was definatly going to have to be more careful from now on. I sighed as I closed my eyes. It had definatly been the most interesting first day ever.


	5. Chapter 5: Like a Girl

**_I really hope everyone is enjoying this story and like Robyn. I'm sorry if she comes across as a big mean jerk in this chapter, she just has a very bad temper haha Anyways, hope ya like the story! Disclaimer: I own nothing but Robyn and her Dad. _**

_Chapter 5: Like a Girl_

When I woke up the next morning, my ribs were sore and it hurt to move. I groaned, having a feeling it wasn't going to be a good day. My ribs were bruised pretty bad and I amused myself for a few minutes connecting the blue and purple dots.

Twenty minutes later, I was struggling with to close my bookbag. I had thrown an extra book in-I'm a bit of a nerd- and it was one book to many it seemed. Sighing, I took the extra book out and placed it on the kitchen table. Quickly closing the bookbag up and slinging it over my shoulder, I hurried out the door just in time to see Smalls and Benny meeting up at the corner. Shutting the door behind me, I ran across the street to join them.

"Mornin'." I mummbled as I slowed down beside them.

"Morning." Smalls chirped happily.

I rolled my eyes. I will never understand how people can be so awake in the mornings. Getting up early I can do, but being wide awake and happy first thing in the morning is way to much for me.

Benny just nodded, stiffling a yawn. Obviously he felt the same way as me. We had just started walking when Ham joined us. Almost instantly the silence turned to talk about baseball. I noticed that Smalls didn't talk much.

"You not know much bout baseball?" I asked him as Ham and Benny sped up slightly to meet Timmy, Tommy, and Squints how had just come from around a corner.

"Not really." Smalls addmitted. "Until two years ago I always stayed inside and fooled around with my chemistry and erector sets."

"What happened last year?" I asked, noticing that Kenny and Yeah-Yeah had joined the rest of the guys about five feet ahead of us.

"Benny invited me to the sandlot." Smalls answered. Shyly he added, "Well, more like invited me back."

I raised my eyebrows, motioning for him to explain.

"I sorta made a fool of myself the first time I ever went there." he sighed. "I never learned to play baseball till Benny taught me."

"Wait," I said in shock. "You didn't learn to play baseball till two years ago?"

"Never had anyone to teach me." Smalls replied. "My Dad died when I was little."

"Oh." I hadn't expected that. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." The boy looked up at me and smiled. "Bill-that's my stepdad-tried to teach me, but I got a blackeye instead. Then Benny came over and asked if I wanted to play with them. I made a fool of myself until Benny taught me how to catch and throw."

"You pull your arm back and let the ball go when it goes forward, why'd ya have to learn that?" I was confused. Baseball had come easy to me and I never realized people had to be taught.

"He only threw it two feet the first time we ever met him." Kenny laughed as he walked back to us. "If that far!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah quickly chimed in. "It was pathetic!"

"Worse then pathetic!" Timmy exclaimed.

"Worse then pathetic!" Tommy repeated.

"Ok, ok, he gets it." Smalls cut in before anyone else could talk. His face was red as he blushed.

Everyone laughed at his embarassment. Smalls soon joined in and we all walked down the sidewalk laughing.

"We better hurry or we're gonna be late." Benny said when we all calmed down. "Race ya guys there!"

With that he took off running, the rest of us following. Benny reached the school first, followed by Kenny, Yeah-Yeah, me, Squints, Timmy, Smalls, and Tommy reached it last, him being the shortest of us all.

We made it to class with one minute to spare. The teacher glared at us, but didn't say anything again. Morning classes went basically the same as the day before, although Phillips and his goons seemed to be braver and annoyed is more then they had the previous day. By lunch I was more then irritated at them.

Benny was playing baseball again and me and the rest of the guys were sitting off to the side watching. Benny was up to bat when an unwelcome voice sounded from behind us.

"I see you losers aren't able to play."

"Who are you calling losers, loser?" Ham's face had gone red as he spun around to face the Tiger's baseball team. "I don't see _you _out there playing!"

"Not worth our time." Phillips replied with a smirk. "Except for Rodriguez, there's no one worthy enough of playing us."

"Hasn't stopped you from being beat by the Lions." Squints accused, talking about another Little League baseball team.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah jumped in. "They beat you bad! Twenty-two if I remember right!"

"We let them win." Phillips snapped, but he was blushing.

"Just get out of here, jerk!" Ham ordered.

"Make me, crap face." Phillips taunted, taking a step closer to us.

Ham started to take a step closer, his fists clenched, when Kenny and Smalls grabbed his shoulders.

"Not at school, Ham." Kenny said quietly.

His fists still clenched, Ham simply nodded and backed down. I heard someone walking up behind me, and when I turned I saw Benny. The baseball game had stopped, with everyone staring over at us. I looked back at Phillips who had noticed Benny.

"Tired of these losers yet, Rodriguez?" he asked. "Ready to come play with some real ball players?"

"The only losers I see around here are you guys." Benny replied. "Now get out of here and leave us alone!"

Phillips glared at him before turning his attentions elsewhere.

"Still here, Birdie?" I rolled my eyes. Couldn't the guy get more originial nicknames?

"No," I replied sarcastically. "I'm in North Dakota."

"You got a smart mouth, you know that?" Phillips' anger was rolling off him in waves.

"You said that yesterday, dimwit." I reminded him. "Did your dog not give you any new insults last night?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" a boy behind Phillips asked loudly.

"It means that a dog is smarter then him." I answered calmly, crossing my arms.

"You're asking for it, you know that, McCallister?" Phillips snarled.

_'Guess I've moved up the hate list.'_ I thought with a grin.

"Try me." I taunted.

"You want more of yesterday?" Phillips' eyes were narrowed as he bairly held in his anger. "You weren't so brave yesterday, rolling on the floor protecting your wittle head."

That did it. I uncrossed my arms and walked in front of Phillips, slipping out of the hands that grabbed at me. Looking the boy in the eyes, I threatened him quietly.

"Try me. Just me and you. Right here. Right now."

He clearly hadn't expected that. His eyes showed a hint of fear, before anger took over. He started to bring his fist up when I was yanked backwards to stand beside the guys again.

"What was that for?" I hissed angrily.

No one answered me. Instead, Benny addressed Phillips.

"Just get out of here, Phillips. No fighting."

"What are you, chicken?" Phillips clearly saw this as a victory.

The baboons behind him starting clucking like a chicken when Ham's angry shout stopped them.

"At least we don't play like girls!"

Gasps were heard on all sides of us as the insult sank in. The color drained from Phillips and his teammates's faces. I crossed my arms against, barely holding in a retort.

_'If only you knew.'_ I thought, but I didn't say anything.

"Saturday." Phillips breathed. "One. At the sandlot."

"Count on it, beetle brain!" Ham grinned.

Phillips opened his mouth to insult him back, when the bell rang. Everyone immediatly broke up and started walking toward there next class.

"You like picking fights, don't ya?" Benny commented as we walked down the hallway to history.

"Nah." I replied. "I just have a bad temper and don't back down. Must be the Irish in me."

Benny grinned before turning serious.

"You better be more careful." he warned. "Phillips will never fight fair."

"I'll be careful." I agreed as we sat down in history. "But if a fight starts, good luck keeping me out of it."

"You like fighting?"

"No. I just don't like arragant bullies."

Benny started laughing before being hushed as the bell rang.

"Don't we all."

I grinned as I opened my history book. At least I wasn't alone.


	6. Chapter 6: The Big Game

_**One quick note: This story takes place in a very warm April so the pool is open. Disclaimer: I only own Robyn and her dad.**_

_Chapter 6: The Big Game_

The rest of the week passed fairly quickly. There were no more confrontations like Monday and Tuesday, though that didn't stop the paperwads and being pushed around in the hallways. Every day after school we would go to the sandlot and practice. Everyone did their best, none wanted to lose to the Little League jerks.

When Saturday finally rolled around, we were more then ready for the game. Everyone was at the sandlot by eight, and for the next four hours, we practiced, though not enough to wear any of us out.

It was ten after twelve when the Tigers finally arrived. Dropping their bikes near the entrance, the uniformed players made their way over to were we waited at pitchers mound.

"I didn't think you would show up, jarheads." were the first words out of Phillips mouth.

"Look who was late, crap face." Ham snapped. "Are we going to play ball or what?"

Everyone quickly agreed and made for their positions. The Tigers batted first. I went back to my spot at left-center and got ready for if the ball was hit my way. It turned out I didn't have to worry about that. From my position I could see Ham's mouth moving from behind the catcher's mask, and the annoyed look on the batter's face as he swung and missed three times in a row.

_'Wonder what girl Ham's talking about now.'_ I thought with a laugh.

Out of the three batters, only one managed to hit the ball, but he hit it straight to Yeah-Yeah who threw it to first and got the batter out before he was even halfway there.

"Good pitching, Kenny!" I said when we went to the dugout.

"Thanks, Robin." Kenny grinned.

Ham was up first. I rolled my eyes as he swung the bat a few times dramatically before taking his stance. Over the past week I had noticed that Ham did everything over-dramatically. He thought it made him look cool. I thought it made him look a bit stupid to tell the truth.

The pitcher wound up, threw the ball, and Ham hit it into the outfield. The outfielders fumbled over the ball, giving Ham a triple. Smalls was next. He hit the ball to second, earning him an out.

"It's all right, Smalls." "Don't worry about, man." and "You'll do better next time." greeted him as he came back to the dugout, his head down in shame. I have him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as I grabbed my bat and went up to the plate.

I saw the catcher hold up three fingers and I wondered what pitch that meant. I figured out fast that it meant a curve ball. I swung to late and missed. The Tigers all started laughing and making fun of me, while the guys all yelled "You got it!"

Bringing the bat back, I watched the ball carefully. I couldn't miss again. Not if I wanted to have any pride left.

_'Pride goes before a fall.'_ a voice in my head said.

_'Shut up!'_ I thought as I swung the bat and missed again.

The Tigers roared in delight.

"Now who is it that plays like a girl?" Phillips yelled from third base.

Now that was low. Especially for me. Blocking everything out except the ball, I watched the pitcher wind up, release, the ball flew threw the air and I swung. A loud "Crack!" filled the air as my bat collided with the ball, sending shock waves up my arms. I dropped the bat and ran.

I rounded first, and saw that the ball was at the corner of the fence. I kept running. By the time I was at second, the outfielder had the ball. I was rounding third when I saw the ball land in the catcher's mitt. With Phillips at third, I didn't want to get in a pickle, not trusting him not to trip me. So I made my way back to third and just stood there.

Everyone looked surprised, especially the catcher who had expected a pickle. I just got ready at third and put one foot on the base.

"Lucky hit, Birdie." Phillips sneered as Kenny walked up to the plate.

"Bet you can't do better, crap face." I taunted as Kenny got ready.

Phillips just growled.

_'What is he, a dog?'_ I thought with an amused smile as Kenny hit the ball to the outfield and I took off across home.

We scored five more points before Tommy struck out and Yeah-Yeah was tagged at second. Phillips was the first to bat this time. I saw Ham's mouth moving and, after he got strike one, Phillips turned around and yelled "Shut up, Porter!"

All of us laughed as Phillips turned back around and struck out. One player actually managed to get a homerun when he hit it to right field and Smalls tripped over his feet running after it. But that was the only point they scored. By the end of the game an hour later, the score was twenty-three to one.

"Now get out of here, idiots!" Ham ordered when the Tigers finally called it quits.

"You got lucky, geeks." Phillips snarled as he and his team made their way to their bikes. "This isn't over!"

"It's over, girls!" Ham yelled.

_'Sextist much?'_ I asked in my head. It was when Ham yelled that that I made my choice. None of the guys could ever, I mean _ever,_ know my secret.

"So what do we do for a victory reward?" Squints asked eagerly.

"Yeah, yeah! We need to do something special!" Yeah-Yeah practically jumped up and down in excitment.

"Play baseball?" I suggested.

"I agree with Robin!" Benny said quickly.

The rest of the guys all looked at each other and nodded before yelling in unison:

"Get pool honeys!"

I frowned when I heard that. No way could I go to the pool and keep my secret. I had to come up with an escuse and fast.

"Fine, we'll vote." Benny clearly didn't want to leave the sandlot. "All those in favor of staying here and playing baseball?"

Only me and Benny raised our hands.

Benny sighed. "Pool it is."

The guys all cheered and started gathering up their stuff. I dragged my feet slowly.

"Everyone meet at Vincent's in ten minutes." Benny shouted as the guys all took off running.

Me, Benny, and Smalls walked more slowly, though Smalls was a few feet ahead of us by then. He didn't wait for us when we got onto our road, and he took off toward his house.

"We'll wait for ya out here." Benny said to me when we passed his house.

"Uh, don't do that." I started nervously.

"Why not? You can't walk to the pool alone." Benny was obviously confused.

"I...uh..I don't swim." I stammered.

"Don't worry bout. We only swim in the shallow end. Squints and Yeah-Yeah can't swim either." Benny started to walk away.

"No, I mean I don't like swimming." I thought quickly to come up with a convincing lie. "I almost drowned when I was little. Haven't been in the water since."

"Oh." Benny seemed shock to meet someone who didn't like swimming. "Well see you tomorrow then. 8 o' clock at the sandlot."

"Got it." I nodded. "See you there."

We went our seperate ways then. Dad's truck was gone, so I had the whole house to myself. I watched from the window as Benny and Smalls walked out of their houses after a few minutes and headed toward the pool. I sighed. I hated not being able to go swimming. I actually really enjoyed it. But I had to keep my secret. I finally had friends for the first time in my life. I couldn't risk losing them.


	7. Chapter 7: The Quickest Month

_**All right, this chapter is really short and is just a filler for the action that's getting ready to start. Sorry it sucks. Disclaimer: I own nothing but Robyn and her dad. **_

_Chapter 7: The Quickest Month_

The Tigers left us alone after that. Well, they didn't come right at us or challenge us to another game at least. The paperwads and pushing in the halls continued. The rest of the month passed by really fast.

After the second week, I had gotten completly use to my disguise. I didn't worry so much about being discovered as the month passed. So long as I didn't use the bathroom at school or go swimming no one was none the wiser.

The rest of April was warm, warm enough that the guys went swimming at least once a week. Sometimes I would tag along, but most of the time I stayed home or went to the diner were Dad had gotten a job at. The diner was close to the sandlot, so when I got bored I would sneak over there and hit balls and run the bases. Only once did the Tigers come around, but I took off the moment I heard them and hurried back to the diner.

But most days were spent playing baseball on the sandlot. Our positions had been moved and I was now at shortstop, something I enjoyed very much. I had never had as much fun as I had that month. The guys had quit calling me Robin and given me the nickname "Robbie."

"It doesn't make sence that we've all got nicknames and you don't." Benny had explained.

Over that month-the quickest month I've ever witnessed-the guys became more then my friends. They became the brothers I had never had. We all really were one big family. The Sandlot family. I grinned as I thought about it.

But whenever I thought about my brothers, a fear came over me. What if my secret was discovered? How would they take being lied to? What would happen then? I already knew that answer. They would never forgive me for lying to them. They would kick me off the team and leave me for Phillips. They wouldn't believe that a girl could play baseball. They wouldn't want a girl to play baseball. No. My secret had to remain a secret. Always.


	8. Chapter 8: Surprise Return

_**Disclaimer: I only own Robyn, her dad, and the woman in this chapter.**_

_Chapter 8: Surprise Return_

It was the first Monday in May when my new life began to crumble. The day started out normal, with the Tigers tormenting us during school, and baseball at the sandlot immediatly afterwards.

"Batter up!" Ham yelled needlesly as Benny walked up to the plate. Immediatly Ham began talking. "Gonna hit it into Mr. Myrtle's yard again, Benny?"

I chuckled when I heard him say that. The guys had told me all about the summer two years ago when they pickled "the beast" to get back an Babe Ruth authographed baseball. I couldn't believe they had been scared of dog at first, then they took me over to see the huge dog "Hercules." I didn't question them after that.

Kenny threw a curve ball and Benny easily hit the ball into the outfield, just short of the fence. He took off running and was at second before we knew it. Timmy threw the ball to me just as Benny crossed third. I quickly threw the ball to Ham who promplty shouted "Pickle!" and started forward toward Benny who took a few wary steps backwards.

Ham feinted once before throwing the ball to Yeah-Yeah. Benny took off home and Yeah-Yeah threw it to Kenny who had stepped in front of Ham who had stepped back to home plate. Benny came to a stop and stepped back toward third again. Kenny threw it back to Yeah-Yeah, who fumbled getting it out of the glove, giving Benny a homerun.

"Yeah!" "Way to go, Benny man!" "You keep getting better and better!" Was all yelled as everyone ran in to congratulate Benny on his homerun.

"Who's next?" he asked when we all quieted down.

Everyone started jumping up and down yelling "Me! Me!" Benny laughed.

"All right, let's do this fair and square!" Benny had to shout over the noise. He picked the ball up and threw it into the outfield. "First one to bring the ball back gets to bat."

We didn't even let him finish before we all took off running. The ball had rolled, but not that much and everyone dog piled on top of it. I stood back, watching and laughing. I could hear Benny back at home laughing too.

As the guys struggled to get the ball from each other, it slipped out of their hands and rolled away from them. Laughing, I picked the ball up and ran to Benny with the rest of the guys chasing after me.

"Here ya go." I said as I handed the ball to Benny, who was laughing uncontrollably.

He handed me the bat and tossed the ball to Kenny before taking my spot at shortstop. Kenny threw his heater and I missed, but the second time I hit it into the far left field. I dropped the bat and ran, not looking for the ball until I heard Squints shout:

"Look out!"

I was at first when I paused to look and saw a lady in a bright pink frilly dress standing in left field, her hands above her head protecting her face as the baseball fell and rolled in front of her feet. She looked up nervously, before realizing the ball was at her feet. Bending down, she gently picked the ball up and looked at it, as if wondering what to do with it.

Had she been a guy, we would have just yelled at her to throw it back. But since she wasn't, we all ran over to where she stood, a frustrated look on her face. She was an inch or so shorter then me with long, curly blonde hair and bright green eyes.

"Sorry ma'am." I apologized, stepping forward. "Didn't see you or I wouldn't have hit the ball in your direction."

"That's all right, boy." she replied in a huff, tossing the ball at me.

_'Well someone's grouchy.'_ I thought as I caught the ball.

"Can we help you, lady?" Ham asked in an annoyed voice.

"As a matter of fact you can." the lady looked over all of us. "I'm looking for my daughter."

"The only girl here is you, ma'am." Smalls told her politly.

_'And me.'_ I thought, a little fear sinking in.

"What's your daughters name?" Benny asked. "Maybe we know where she is."

"Elenore." the lady replied.

My eyes widened when I heard that. There was no way...

"Never heard of her." Squints told her.

"Yeah, yeah, does she have a last name?" Yeah-Yeah asked.

_'Don't say it! No! It can't be! Not now!' _my mind screamed as I froze, scared of her answer.

"McCallister. Elenore McCallister."

My blood froze as the guys all glanced at each other in confused. I was frozen in my spot, only able to look at the woman in front of us.

"The only McCallister in the whole town is Robbie." Kenny spoke after a moment.

"Robbie?" the lady's eyes scanned us all again.

"Robin here." Timmy pointed at me.

"Robin here." Tommy repeated, also pointing.

"You must have the wrong town." Benny's confusion was clear in his voice.

"No." the woman didn't take her eyes off me. "I have the right town. It's been so long, Elenore."

"My names Robin." I managed to say as the lady reached her arm out toward me. "Not Elenore."

"Don't lie to me, Elenore." the woman chided. I took a step back to avoid her from grabbing my arm. "I recognize you, even under those hideous clothes. You don't remember me, do you? I left when you were very little. I'm your mother, Elenore dear."

My eyes widened when she said that and I took another step back, bumping into Kenny who stepped out of my way.

"I told you, lady." I said frantically. "My name's Robin. I'm not..."

"Robin." a male voice inturrupted me.

I looked over to the entrance of the sandlot and saw my Dad standing there, a sad look on his face.

"The gig is up, honey." he said sadly. "She's your mother."

"What? No. No." I opened my mouth to say more, but nothing came out.

The woman-my mother-took advantage of my shock and grabbed my arm and started pulling me away toward the entrance.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to be back with you, Elenore." she said as she led me away. "I have missed you oh so much!"

I couldn't say anything. I let her pull me away toward the entrance. I heard the guys behind me talking in shocked, angry voices. Before she pulled me out of the sandlot, I looked back. Tears came to my eyes as I saw the guys standing there, shock and betrayel on their faces as they stared after me.

Then I was dragged away.


	9. Chapter 9: Elenore!

**_All right, so this chapter (and possibly two or three more after this) are in the third person to show what happens when Robyn is gone. I own nothing but my three characters._**

_Chapter 9: Elenore?_

The sandlot guys just stared as the woman dragged Robyn away. Ham was the first one to recover.

"Did she call her _Elenore?" _he asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Robin's a _girl?_" Timmy's mouth was open in shock.

"A girl?" Tommy repeated, equally shocked.

"We've been playing baseball with a _girl._" Squints exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah." was all that Yeah-Yeah could say as he stared at Robyn.

"This is too weird." Kenny said.

Everyone agreed. Robyn looked back and they just stared at her. No one said a word and just stared. With one last look, Robyn turned around and left the sandlot with her father and new-found mother.

"He...she...I can't believe it!" Ham's anger was evident as he sputtered over his words. "She _lied _to us! For a whole month! How could she?"

"That's the last we'll ever see of _her_." Squints announced.

"Yeah, yeah! She better not show her face around here again!" Yeah-Yeah agreed.

"Why not?" Smalls asked.

"Because she's a girl! And a lier on top of that!" Ham exclaimed, turning toward Smalls.

"So? He...she's our friend." Smalls replied.

"She's a _girl!_" Ham bellowed. "Girls can't play baseball!"

"She's been playing a whole month, Ham." Benny cut in before Ham could on. "You can't say girls can't play when she's been playing all month."

"But...but..." Ham couldn't continue.

"Why would she lie and pretend to be a boy?" Kenny asked.

"Maybe because he...she was afraid of our reaction?" Smalls said.

No one had anything to say to that. They all just stood there for a few more minutes.

"Let's play." Benny finally broke the silence.

The guys all quickly took their positions and continued to play as if nothing had happened.


	10. Chapter 10: Fast Paced Change

**_I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. (They are still married by the way. Just want to make that very clear. She left, but they never divorced and neither got remarried.)_**

_Chapter 10: Fast Paced Change_

The woman-my Mom-talked almost nonstop as she wrapped her arm in mine and walked me home with Dad following right behind. I wasn't even listening to my new-found Mom as she babbled on and on.

There were two things on my mind that blocked her chatter. First, here was the woman who had left me and Dad all alone when I was just three. She had never called, never wrote, never visited. She just dropped from the face of the earth. And here she was, back again.

The other thing I couldn't keep from my mind was the knowledge that the guys now knew my secret. I remembered the looks of anger, shock, and betrayal on their faces after that one last glance and I felt tears start to form, but I refused to cry. I knew that my life as I knew it here was over. I knew I would never see my brothers again.

Finally we reached my house. My mom apparently already had been here, for she turned without me saying anything and walked right in, not letting my arm go. She led me into the living room and pulled me down beside her on the couch. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat there as Dad sat on the chair across from us. I looked over at him, but he just shook his head and mouthed "We'll talk later."

I felt my mom's hands wrap around my face gently and turn my head around toward her. She didn't say anything, just took my hat off and tossed it aside and held my face in her hands.

"You have grown so much, Elenore." she said quietly.

I winced as she used my first name. No one called me that. Even when I was little, Dad said Mom refused to call me by that name. Why would she now?

"I go by Robyn." I told her as I pried her hands off my face. "I always liked it better then Elenore."

"So did I." she laughed. "But your Dad insisted naming you after his mother."

"What are you doing here, Meredith?" Dad inturrupted. He didn't look happy at all.

Mom sighed. "I realized what a mistake I made in leaving you, Will." she explained sadly. "I missed my baby girl and you." She wrapped her arms around me and drew me into a hug. I kept my arms to myself and stiffened, not use to being hugged, especially by a woman I barely knew.

"Why did you leave?" I asked.

I felt her stiffen slightly before relaxing and sighing.

"I was young and foolish." she answered. "I thought I could make a name for myself elsewhere. When your dad wouldn't come, I just left. I hated to leave, but I was stupid. I can't take it back, but I'm here now."

She hugged me tighter and I awkwardly patted her arm.

"How did you find us?" Dad asked.

"I asked around. Your old employer told me I'd find you here." Mom answered. Then she turned to me and asked. "So what's with the clothes? Why were you at that old field? Which one of those boys is your boyfriend?"

"None of them!" I exclaimed, surprised that this woman who didn't even know me was already having 'girl talk' with me. And with Dad right there! "They're my friends! They didn't even know I was a girl until a little bit ago!"

"I'll just leave you two alone." Dad stood up and started walking out. "You have a lot to catch up on."

I looked at him, begging him wordlessly not to leave me alone. He left the room though, leaving me with the mother I hardly knew. I looked back at her and she just smiled and took my face in her hands again.

"I have missed you so much, baby girl." she smiled. I found myself smiling back. She pulled me into another hug and this time I returned it. "Why don't you go shower and then we'll spend time getting to know each other.

"All right." I nodded. Then smiled and added, "It's nice to have you back, Mom."

"It's good to be back, baby girl." She smiled and I left the room to take a shower.

That night, Mom and I sat in the living room talking and laughing until late at night. It took me a little while, but I gradually grew comfortable around my Mom and talked more freely. Dad didn't talk with us. After supper, he went to his room and stayed there. I guess having his wife back after ten years was just to much for him to handle easily.

"So what have you been doing for the past ten years, Mom?" I asked her.

"New York, Chicago, Hollywood, even Paris!" Mom replied dreamily. "I did a lot of traveling. Nothing like a big city you know."

I disagreed. I much prefered the woods and the farm and the open air of the country. But I wasn't going to say anything to disagree with her. I didn't want her leaving again. Dad was great-the best dad anyone could wish for-but he wasn't the same as a mom. I grew up without her and now that I had her back, I didn't want to lose her. Even if she was the complete opposite of me.

"But there's nothing like home, I've realized." Mom smiled and hugged me yet again. She enjoyed hugs I learned. "And home is where ever my Baby Girl is."

I hugged her back. I was getting use to this. Although I don't think I will ever get use to being called "baby girl."

"So what's with the boys clothes?" Mom asked, letting me go.

I shrugged.

"They're comfortable." I explained. "I'm not one for dresses or skirts."

Mom frowned, but didn't say anything about it.

"What was it you meant earlier when you said that those boys didn't know you were a girl?" She asked, a serious look on her face.

"I've been masquerading as a boy for the past month." I explained, fidgiting a little.

"What on earth for?" Shock and disbelief filled her voice.

I squirmed in my seat. I hadn't ever told anyone exactly why I went incognito, not even Dad.

"I don't like being a girl." I explained slowly, trying to find the words. "I don't like girly stuff. I like baseball and wrestling and the outdoors. Girls don't understand me and want nothing to do with me. Guys won't have anything to do with me since I'm not a normal girl. I was bullied back in Texas for being the way I am. So when we moved, I figured I would start fresh and live the way that it would be the best for me. So I pretended to be a boy. I haven't been figured out all month. Until today."

Mom just looked at me like I was crazy. I felt my heart drop a little. I had been hoping she would understand. I wasn't ready for what she said next.

"That's just your hormones, sweetie." she said with a giggle.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You're just starting to mature." She explained, still giggling. "You're turning into a teenager and your hormones are going crazy. This is just a..." she paused as if searching for the right word. "...a temporary stage of identity problems."

I just looked at her, my mouth open. I had absolutly nothing to say to that. How could wanting to be a boy being a "temporary stage of identity problems" when I had been this way since I was at least seven! Mom took my silence as acceptance.

"Don't worry, baby girl." she hugged me tight, and I reluctantly hugged her back. "I'll help you get through this stage. Tomorrow, we'll go shopping and have a girl's day. We can get to know each other better."

My eyes widened. I absolutly _hated_ shopping! But here was the woman I had wanted my whole life to meet. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could to make up for all the lost years.

"I have school though." I prayed that this would deter her.

"I'm sure missing one day won't hurt you." she smiled.

I simply nodded and dropped my shoulders. I hoped doing the one thing I absolutly hated would be worth it. Looking up at my Mom, I suddenly wasn't so sure.


	11. Chapter 11: A Smile and Shopping

**_Once again, I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. This chapter is just a semi-long filler, but it's an important filler. The real action is just about to start..._**

_Chapter 11: A Smile and Shopping_

I woke up at seven sharp, like always. I had showered and changed into my school clothes before I remembered that I was going shopping with Mom today. I sat down on my bed and looked at the picture on my nightstand. I couldn't believe the events from yesterday. I had, for just a few brief moments, believed it had all been a dream. But the memories came flooding back and I remembered everything. What I remembered the clearest was the look on the sandlot guys faces when they realized my secret.

Ham had looked angry. I knew he would be. He was one of the most sextist guys I had ever met. I knew he would never accept that a girl could play baseball. I knew he would never forgive me for lying to him about my gender either.

Timmy, Tommy and Kenny had just looked confused. As if they hadn't understood what had just happened. I knew Kenny would figure it out fairly quickly. Timmy and Tommy would just go along with whatver the rest of the guys said.

Squints and Yeah-Yeah had looked completly shocked. They were like Ham-though no where near as bad-and probably were shocked that a girl had been hanging out and playing with them for a month. It would only be a matter of minutes before they got angry, I knew. They would want nothing to do with me now.

Benny's expression had hurt the worse. It had been he who had first brought me to the sandlot. We had gotten close over the past month and were more like siblings then friends. His expression had been one of betrayal. I didn't blaim him. I would have felt betrayed to if it had been me who learned in a very quick and rude way that my friend wasn't who I thought him to be. I hated lying to him. Of all the guys, I felt most sorry to Benny.

Small's expression left me confused. It hadn't been one of anger-I knew for him it wouldn't be. He's to kind hearted to get mad.-but neither had it been one of betrayal or hurt. Shock, yes, but there had been something else. It almost had seemed like he _understood_.

I shook my head free of that. I was an idiot to think anyone would understand something like this. I had lied to them, hurt them, and played them for fools. They could never understand. Even if they did, it wouldn't matter. I would never see them again. Well, not enough to talk to them. I had betrayed them. You don't accept a traitor back. Especially if that traitor is a girl.

I sighed and looked out my window. Benny and Smalls had just walked out of their houses. Each glanced back at my house and I froze when I realized they had spotted me. Benny's eyes met mine for a brief second before he turned around and walked away. I looked over at Smalls who just looked back at me. We stood their for a half minute, just looking at each other, when Smalls suddenly smiled and waved. Shocked, I waved back. Then he took off to catch up with Benny.

I didn't have any time to think about that encounter. At that moment, a knock sounded on my door and Mom walked in.

"Good morning, Baby Girl." She smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Of course I am." I smiled back, but I didn't feel like it.

Mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder and hussled me down the stairs and out the door to where her car was parked. I hadn't even noticed it the day before. Dad's truck was gone.

_'He doesn't work today.'_ I thought, wondering where on earth he could be.

I climbed into the passenger seat and Mom started the car.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we pulled into the street.

"The next town over from here." she replied. "They have some of the nicest dress shops in this area."

I groaned silently. The two things I hated: shopping and dresses. At least it would be a Phillips-free day. I was really thankful that we wouldn't be shopping here though. That way there would be less chance of someone I knew seeing me. The sandlot guys might know my secret, but I didn't know if they would tell anyone. There was still a chance I could keep masquerading as a guy.

By the time we got home at 2:30 I knew there was no chance of that happening. Mom had bought me about fifteen different dresses. That was after going through five different dress shops, spending an hour and a half in each. Then there was the multiple other shops Mom dragged me into that I didn't even pay attention to. Only good part of the day was we stopped by a bookstore and Mom let me get a couple of books.

Once we got home, Mom told me to go change into one of my dresses so that I could "look presentable." I reluctantly did I was told. Dad still wasn't home.

_'Where is he?'_ I wondered as I changed into a dark red dress. _'This isn't like him!' _

I went back downstairs and showed Mom the dress. I hated it, but I didn't tell her. She "oohd." and "ahhd" as she told me to turn around and walk in it a little. I hated the feel of it. I hated the limited mobility, the way it restricted my movement. I hated each and everything about it. But it made Mom happy, so I didn't say a word.

"You look absolutly beautiful, Robyn dear!" Mom exclaimed. "Once your hair grows long again, and we curl it, you'll have all the guys begging for you to walk with them."

My eyes widened at that. Of all the things she could say, she picked the one thing to say that I flat out did not want! But again I kept my silence. I had only known her a day after all. In time she would get use to the way I am.

Mom yawned and announced.

"I'm going to go take a nap, sweetie. You may do whatever you want to do. You should go down to the diner and show off your new dress!"

"I might." I lied. I had no plans at all of doing that. "I think I will go for a walk in a little while."

"All right, baby girl." Mom smiled as she walked up the stairs to the room she had occupied. "Have fun."

I waited until her door shut before rushing to my room and changing back into my baggy pants and shirt. I threw on my ball cap and stuffed my glove in my back pocket. There was ten minutes til school was out. I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. I had to go to the sandlot. Even if I wasn't going to let them know I was there, I had to go.

I hurried down the stairs as quietly as I could so as not to wake Mom up. I had just opened the front door when I almost ran right into my Dad.

"Hi Dad!" I whisper shouted.

He just looked at me through bloodshot eyes. I could smell the alchohol on him and I gasped. Dad had never drank before! And now here he was on the doorstep, dead drunk! I moved out of his way as he stumbled through the house and to his room.

I stood on the doorstep a moment longer, before shutting the door and taking off at a sprint toward the sandlot. I got there with about five minutes to spare. I quickly climbed up into the treehouse and positioned myself to where I could look out and no one could see me. Then I settled in to wait. Ten minutes later, I heard voices and knew that the guys were headed toward the sandlot.


	12. Chapter 12: Caught

_**All right, things are going to start picking and be more interesting from here on out. Hope you're enjoying the story! Disclaimer: I own nothing but Robyn and her parents.**_

_**Jacob's Little Sister, thanks for the reviews! You rock! :) **_

_C__hapter 12: Caught_

_'What if they catch me?'_ the thought ran through my head as I moved further back into the tree house to avoid them spotting me.

Carefully peeking out a little crack, I could just barely see the guys as they started playing baseball. No one said anything except "base up" and "Yeah-Yeah, get two!" I didn't understand what was wrong. Usually there was a lot of joking around and talking before the game started.

_'Something must have happened at school.'_ I reasoned.

After a few minutes, the guys got more vocal and back to the way I knew them to play. I sighed as I watched and wished I was down there with them. But I knew that wasn't possible. Then a new thought crossed my mind. How was I going to get out of here without them seeing me? I knew I would have to leave soon; Mom would probaby freak if she found me in these clothes again. I looked around and studied the tree house-I had only been in here once before-and realized my best bet would be to sneak down the rope ladder on the side and run for all I had.

_'Thiry minutes.'_ I decided, hoping Mom would sleep that long, then went back to watching the guys play.

After ten minutes, I began to felt cramped. The crack I was looking through was low to the ground and it hurt to look out it. I looked around and decided to look very carefuly out the window. I figured if I stood far enough back in the shadows, they wouldn't see me.

Never did claim to be very smart. They spotted me within five minutes.

"Hey!" Timmy shouted. "Who's that in the treehouse?"

"Who's in the tree house?" Tommy repeated, though he looked over at the treehouse in confusion.

I sank to the ground quickly and moved toward the exit. Looked like I was going to have to make a run for it. Great.

"I don't see anyone, Timmy." I heard Kenny say.

"They ducked down." Timmy insisted. "There's someone up there!"

"Someone up there!" Tommy repeated, though he sounded confused.

"Well let's go check then." Benny announced.

I took a deep breath. It was now or never. I was at the back of the tree house, so I slipped around on the little porch to where they couldn't see me. Then I paused. The only exit was on the other side of the sandlot. I could hop the fence, but I never was that great a jumper.

By the time I leaped down from the treehouse, the guys were ten feet away. I hit the ground hard and rolled, coming to a stop a few feet from the side of the fence.

"Hey kid!" Ham shouted, not recognizing me. "What do you think you're doing?"

I didn't answer or look at them. I just took off running toward the exit.

"Get him!" Ham shouted behind me.

I didn't look back and just kept running. I was almost out of the sandlot when I felt a hand wrap around my arm and yank me backwards. I spun around and came face to face with Benny. His eyes widened as he recognized me.

"Let me go, Benny." I said quietly. "Now."

"What are you doing here, Robyn?" he asked, his grip tightening.

I couldn't see any other choice. The guys were coming fast, and I didn't want to stick around to talk and be yelled at.

"I'm sorry." I said as I brought my fist back.

"Wha...?" was all Benny could say before I hit him on the jaw.

It wasn't a hard blow, just enough to shock him into letting me go, which he did. I quickly turned around and ran out of th sandlot and down the sidewalk. It wasn't until I reached an old building a few houses down from Vincent's that I stopped and turned around. I felt horrible for hitting Benny, but I had no choice.

I looked down the road and didn't see anyone. I sighed in defeat as I started to walk down the road slowly. It wasn't until I was nearly surrounded that I realized the danger I was in.

"Well, well, well." Phillips cooed as him and his team formed a circle around me. "Look who we have here, all alone."

I looked around frantically, trying to find an escape, but I was completly surrounded.

"What do you want, Phillips?" I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. I knew what he wanted, and I knew there would be no one to help me this time.

"To settle an old debt." Phillips sneered. "You're going to pay for the second day of school."

"Dang you carry a grudge, meat head." When I said it I realized it wasn't the right thing to say.

"Grab him." Phillips ordered, his voice low and dangerous. Instantly, two hands grabbed my arms tightly. "Take him behind the building. Jerry, you keep watch out here and make sure those sand losers don't come to the rescue again."

I saw one boy nod and post himself against the old building. My captors dragged me behind the old building. My squirming to free myself did no good. They just tightened their grip on me. I knew I would have hand shaped bruises on my arm soon. Along with many others if Phillips had his way.

My captors threw me none-to-gently into the abandoned building, then posted themselevs on either side of me. The rest of the goons stood in a semi-circle to prevent my escape.

"Nine on one." I knew it would do me no good, but I couldn't help myself. "Nice to know you fight fair."

"You got that right." Phillips grinned evily and moved closer.

That's when he made his second mistake. His first was not pinning me to the wall or holding me back. His second mistake was moving closer. Before he could swing his fist, I ducked to the side and punched him swiftly in the side. His breath hissed out of him as he stumbled backwards. I didn't give him time to recover. I moved in quickly, punched him twice more in the stomach, and once in the jaw.

"Grab him you idiots!" Phillips hissed as he backed away from me.

I started to move in again, but two hands grabbed me and held me immobile between them. Phillips walked toward me, rubbing his jaw which-I was pleased to notice-was already turning black in a bruise.

"I was going to go easy on you." He growled. "But you can forget that now!"

I opened my mouth to reply, but two swift punches to my stomach cut me off. Another punch hit me in the jaw, and another right above the eye. I felt blood trickle down after that one and wondered how hard he had hit me. After that, I lost track of how many punches I took.

I was struggling to breath. Each breath came quick and didn't provide enough air before another punch emptied my lungs. Another blow to my jaw caused me to bite my tongue, and I felt the blood in my mouth. I tried to spit it out at Phillips, but another punch to my jaw made me spit it out away from him.

"Drop him." Phillips ordered.

The hands released me and I fell to my knees. I kneeled their for a moment, spitting up blood and breathing heaviliy. Then the kicking began and I fell the rest of the way to the ground. Futily, I tried to grab at their feet, only to have my arm kicked. Fire shot through me, and I prayed that they hadn't broken a bone.

I don't know how long I laid there, vainly trying to escape as they kicked me over and over and over pain was getting to be to much. It felt like my whole body was on fire. Then I felt something hit me in the head and the world went black.


	13. Chapter 13: The Rescue

_**Sorry this chapter sucks. I'm decent at writing one on one fight scenes, but when it comes to big huge fights, I flat out suck. Sorry. Disclaimer: I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. **_

_Chapter 13: Rescue_

"You all right Benny man?" Squints asked when the rest of the guys caught up with him.

"Yeah, yeah! Who was he, Benny?" Yeah-Yeah asked before Benny could answer Squints.

"It was Robyn." Benny replied, rubbing his jaw. He couldn't believe she had hit him, but he knew she hadn't done it anywhere near as hard as she could.

"_Her?"_ Ham shouted angerily. "What was _she_ doing here?"

"It looked like she was watching." Timmy answered.

"Like she was watching." his brother repeated.

"Why would she do that?" Squints asked, taking his glasses off and cleaning them.

"Yeah, yeah! Why didn't she just come down and talk to us? Why did she run?"

"Maybe she was afraid of what we would do." Smalls replied.

"What do you mean, Smalls?" Kenny asked.

"Who cares?" Ham cut in. "All that matters is she's gone and we can go back to baseball now!" He started walking away.

"I mean," Smalls said. "That she's been with us a month. She knows what we're like. She'd know that Ham would act this way, and she probably figured the rest of us would to. So she's probably to afraid to come back for fear of what we would do."

"Then why would she come and watch us?" Benny asked.

"What would you do if we kicked you out?" Smalls asked in return. "We're her only friends. She probably just wants to feel like she's still with us, even if she won't come and talk to us."

No one had anything to say to that. Smalls started walking toward the exit.

"Where do you think your going, Smalls?" Ham asked angirly, his face red as he realized what Smalls had said about him was true and he felt bad for it. "The field is that way!"

"I'm going after her." Smalls replied. "Anyone else coming?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah jogged over to stand beside Smalls. "Come on! Let's go!'

"I'm in." Benny walked over, followed by Kenny and the Timmons.

Squints looked over at Ham before walking over and joining the others. Ham looked angry for a second, before his shoulders drooped and he sighed.

"All right. But what do we do when we catch her?"

"Talk to her." Smalls replied, walking out of the sandlot.

The rest of the guys followed. They looked both ways down the sidewalk, before heading toward Vincent's. They had just reached the house past the drug store when Squints suddenly stopped them.

"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing toward an old abandoned house a little ways down the road.

They all looked and saw one of the Tiger's leaning against the building, looking down the road.

"Where one is, they all are." Benny said.

"And, and they most likely got Robbie!" Yeah-Yeah exclaimed.

"Come on!" Smalls started forward.

The rest of the guys followed quickly. The Tiger turned and spotted them, then ran back behind the building. The sandlot guys broke into a run. Coming around the abanondened building, they saw all nine of the Tigers team in a line, facing the entrance.

"What do you losers want?" Phillips snarled from where he stood in the middle of the group.

"None of your beeswax, Crap face!" Ham shouted. "Now get out of our way!"

"Where's Robyn, Phillips?" Benny asked, taking a step closer.

"No idea." Phillips answered with a straight face. "What do I look like, a babysitter?"

"No," Ham replied angrily. "You look like a pile of dog crap!"

Phillips clenched his fists and took a step toward Ham.

"You better take that back, Pork chop." he threatened.

"Make me, scab eater." Ham took a step closer.

They were about to come to blows, when Smalls' voice interupted them.

"Robyn!"

Everyone turned to look to where Phillips had been standing and, sure enough, they saw the still form of Robyn laying on the ground.

"What did you do to her, jerk?" Benny asked, his fists clenched.

"What we're going to do to you." Phillips replied. "Get them!"

An all out fight broke out at those words. Phillips reached out and hit Ham in the face, but instead of backing up like he had expected, Ham jumped forward and tackled Phillips to the ground and began hitting Phillips over and over again.

At Phillips shout, the rest of the Tigers had rushed forward and started at the sandlot guys. Fists were flying and boys fell to the ground, only to get back up and tackle another to the ground. The Tigers had an extra man, but the sandlot guys were faster and stronger from playing ball every day.

After ten minutes of fighting, the Tigers ran. Phillips, sporting a bruise on his jaw and a black eye, turned around and yelled "You'll be sorry!" before running off after his team. The sandlot guys hadn't faired very well. Ham, Timmy, and Smalls all sported black eyes. The others all had bruises on their faces and arms.

They didn't take time to examine their wounds, though. As soon as the Tigers had gone, they rushed over to where Robyn lay unconscious on the ground. She lay on her stomach, so Benny and Smalls quickly rolled her over onto her back.

"What's wrong with her?" Timmy asked.

"What's wrong with her?" Tommy repeated.

"Yeah, yeah. She don't look to good!" Yeah-Yeah said nervously.

He was right. There was a cut right above her eye that had blood around it. There was dried blood around her cheek and her lips. A bruise had formed on her left cheek, and they could see black and purple bruises on her stomach where her shirt had torn slightly.

"Why's there blood on her mouth?" Kenny asked, panic in his voice.

Smalls carefully opened her mouth.

"She bit her tongue." he announced. "Come on, we've got to get her out of here before they come back."

The rest of the guys quickly agreed. Benny and Smalls carefuly lifted Robyn up, throwing one of her arms around Benny's shoulders, and the other around Smalls. Walking slowly and awkwardly, the friends made their way back to the sandlot.


	14. Chapter 14: Confessions

**_I own nothing but Robyn and her parents._**

_Chapter 14: Confessions_

I don't know how long I was out before I came to. It probably would have been a lot longer, but someone had taken the liberty of dumping a bucket of water on my head. That got my up. I sat straight up, before falling back down and groaning as a fierce pain took over my head. I shut my eyes, hoping to make the pain.

"Are you all right?" A voice I recognized as Squints' asked from above me.

"Yeah, yeah, whats wrong?" Yeah-Yeah asked.

I opened my eyes and saw the guys all crowded around me. Benny and Smalls lifted me up gently and helped me to sit as black dots swam in front of me.

"She was just beat unconscious." Benny chided. "I think that's whats wrong, Yeah-Yeah."

Yeah-Yeah just blushed and looked down.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly. "And who poured water on me?"

"Phillips and his minions beat you." Smalls answered. "And that was all Squints' idea!"

"Hey!" Squints exclaimed. "It was yours to."

"Soon as my head stops hurting," I told them, "You're both dead."

"Ahh she's all right." Squints announced, backing up slightly. "She wouldn't threaten lessen she was fine."

My whole body was aching, and I knew I would be severaly bruised before the day was over. The top of my shirt was wet from the water-thank God I was wearing a dark shirt and not a white one!- and my hair was matted down. I didn't know where my hat was. I looked up at the guys and noticed that each one had their own bruises.

"What happened to you guys?" I asked.

"Same thing as you." Timmy answered.

"Same thing as you." Tommy repeated.

"Only eight on nine is more fair then nine on one." Kenny added.

I felt Benny and Small's hands on my shoulders, holding me up. Slowly, I got to my knees, then stood up. Dizziness immediatly took over and I almost fell, but the guys all grabbed at me and led me over to the dugout, where they forced me to sit on the bench.

"I really got to be going." I said, starting to stand.

The guys all just surrounded me, silently telling me I wasn't going anywhere. We all just sat there awkwardly for a moment, no one really knowing what to say.

"So Robbie..." Benny was the first to say anything. "Or should we call you Elenore?"

"Only if you don't want to walk for a month." I threatened, wincing at the very name.

"Why did you lie to us?" Ham asked, anger in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah was quick to add his own question. "Why didn't you just tell us you were a girl?"

"I didn't tell anyone." I replied. "I just wanted to live the way I wanted to live, not the way my gender makes me live."

"What do you mean?" Squints asked, taking his glasses off, squinting at me, then put them back on.

I sighed. I really wasn't looking forward to this.

"Girls are suppose to be weak, defensless, wimps." I began. "They're suppose to wear dresses, spend hours on make-up and hair, and do nothing all day but sit inside and giggle and talk about boys. So girls are suppose to do everything I can't stand." I paused to let my words sink in before continuing. "I can't stand to be thought of as weak. My temper won't let me be defensless either, considering the number of fights I always manage to get in. Not that I want to be defensless. I can take care of myself. I couldn't care less about what I look like and dresses are for burning, not wearing. I'd rather be outside playing baseball then sitting inside."

"So why did you disguise yourself?" Timmy asked.

"Why disguise yourself?" Tommy repeated.

"I wanted to actually make friends for once in my life." I replied, looking at the ground and not at them. I didn't want to see the disgust that was sure to be in their eyes. "Back in Texas the girls didn't want to be around me because I was different, and the guys couldn't accept that a girl could do guys stuff. So when we moved here, I decided to pretend to be a guy so I could make friends and do the things I love doing without being looked down on." I sighed and began to stand. "I'm sorry I lied to you guys. I'll just be going."

"Wait a minute," Smalls said, stopping me from rising yet again. "Why are you going?"

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked, looking at him.

"Cause it's not dark yet," Benny said with a smile, "Plenty of more time to play ball."

My eyes widened in shock.

"You mean I can stay?" I asked.

"Of course you can!" Ham said before anyone else.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. He blushed when he noticed everyone staring.

"Well come on." he said, embarassment creeping in. "Are we going to play ball or what?"

We all agreed and everyone took their positions. With all my bruises and the dizziness, I couldn't run or field at all, so Ham volunteered to switch spots with me. It was nearly dark when we all left to go home.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I walked in the front door of my house.


	15. Chapter 15: The Fight

**_I own nothing but Robyn and her parents._**

_Chapter 15: The Fight_

_I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I walked in the front of my house._

Maybe if Mom had never left I would have been prepared, but since she hadn't, I was completly shocked to see her across the kitchen table from Dad, screaming and throw pens at him. Neither of them even noticed me as I quickly slipped inside and hurried to the stairs. I went about halfway up, then stopped and watched the scene unfold.

"You stupid idiot!" Mom screamed at Dad. I noticed his eyes were still a little bloodshot. "You stupid stupid idiot!"

"Why am _I _the stupid idiot?" Dad shouted back. "_You're_ the stupid idiot for leaving!"

"The only stupid thing I did was not to not take Elenore with me!" Mom screamed and threw a pen at him.

I grabbed ahold of the stair's railing. I had never heard Dad shout like he was, and to be shouting at my Mom. Tell the truth I was a little scared. I wasn't use to this. Me and Dad always got along real well. Even when we didn't, he never yelled at me. This was the first time I had ever heard him raise his voice like this.

"Her name," Dad hissed. "Is Robyn."

"Oh shut up, Will!" Mom yelled back. "We both agreed when she was born that she would be called Robyn until her tenth birthday. Then she would be Elenore and would be trained to act like a lady!"

"That was before you left!" I could see Dad's hands turning white as he gripped the back of a chair. "You knew I would never be able to raise Robyn the way you wanted."

"You turned her into a boy!"

"I let her be herself!"

"She is a young lady! _Not _a Texas redneck like you!"

Dad didn't reply. He just walked away and went to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"I _will_ turn her into a proper young lady! That's a promise!" Mom yelled at the closed door.

_'Do I not get a say in this?'_ I silently wondered as I hurried up to my room.

I grabbed my pajama's and jumped in the shower, praying Mom would go to bed and not bother me tonight. I had a lot to think about.

When I got out of the shower and went to my room, I was surprised to see my dad sitting on my bed.

"What's up, Dad?" I asked with a smile.

"Shut the door, Robyn." He said seriously. "We need to talk."

With an uneasy feeling, I did as I was told and sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me like that this morning. And for the fight just a few minutes ago." I started to tell him not to worry, but he cut me off. "I saw you on stairs, Robyn. I know you were scared."

"I'm just not use to it." I replied.

"There's some things you need to know about your mom, Robyn." Dad said.

"Like what?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know.

"Like why she left."

"She said she left because she wanted to travel and because she was foolish and young." I replied in confusion.

"That might have been part of the reason," Dad replied, looking at me sadly. "But the real reason was that she couldn't stand me. She wouldn't have married me, but she had no choice. Her parents forced her to because she was pregnant with you. She tried to stick around and be a farmer's wife, but the day came when she just snapped. She said she hated me and that she was leaving because she couldn't stand the sight of me any more. I didn't think she was serious, but the next day I found a note saying she was gone and not to come after her. I never did."

I looked at him, shock on my face. He had never told me that.

"Then why is she back?" I asked.

"She wants to turn you into a proper young lady." Dad sighed. "Apparently she got lonely in the big cities and decided she wanted another girl to spend money with."

"Well she came to the wrong place!" I exclaimed. "There is no way I'm going to turn into a proper lady!"

Dad grinned before turning serious again.

"Just do as she says for awhile, ok?" he said. "She's...well...she's not all there. If she doesn't get her way she throws a big fit and it's not a pretty sight."

"How long do I have to do as she says?" I asked with a grimace, knowing it was going to involve dresses and 'girl time'.

"Just a few weeks." Dad replied. "I'm going to get a lawyer tomorrow to get a divorce and a restraining order." He paused before adding, "If that's all right with you. If you want, it doesn't have to involve you."

I didn't reply for a moment. I had always wanted a mom, had prayed for years that she would come back and we could be a family again. But after the past three days, did I really want to live with an overbearing mother telling me how to live?

"Just do it." I whispered.

Dad nodded and pulled me into a hug and then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I curled up on my bed and pulled the covers over my head. Tears started to slip from my eyes and I didn't try and stop them. Why couldn't life just be simple?


	16. Chapter 16: The Secret's Out

**_Once again, I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. _**

_Chapter 16: The Secret's Out_

I woke up sorer then I can ever remember being. My stomach and thighs were bruised bad and walking hurt, but after a hot shower I felt some better. I changed into my baggy pants and shirt and hurried downstairs for breakfast. I was surprised to see Mom already up and making eggs and toast.

"Morning Mom." I greeted.

"Morning, Elenore." Mom smiled, before frowning as she studied me. "What do you think you're wearing?"

"Clothes." I replied, looking down trying to find something wrong.

"Why aren't you in a dress?" she asked, her frown deepening.

"Mom, the school thinks I'm a guy." I was shocked, even though I knew I shouldn't be. "It would be weird to show up in a dress."

"Well we'll fix that real quick." Mom smiled again and I groaned quietly. "Go change. The green or blue dress would look beautiful on you. If only you hadn't cut your hair."

I bit my lip to keep from saying something. I remembered Dad's words from the night before. I reluctantly went upstairs and looked at the dresses with disgust. The green one was tight, fancy, and short. I threw it on the floor and picked the blue one. It was longer, looser, and plain. I slipped it on, immediatly hating it. I looked at the clock and saw that I was going to be late if I didn't hurry. Forcing my jeans, T-shirt, jersey and glove into my back pack, I hurried downstairs. I was surprised to see Mom grabbing her car keys and purse.

"Here you go, Baby Girl." She smiled, holding out two pieces of toast. "You can eat on the way."

"But I walk to school." I replied. "My friends will be waiting."

"You can walk tomorrow." Mom insisted, opening the front door. "We have to settle your identity problem today."

My shoulders drooped as I grabbed my bag and followed her out. I looked across the street and saw Smalls walking out of his house. He looked over at me and started to wave, but he stopped mid-motion and just stared at me with wide eyes. I mouthed "See you later" and climbed into the car. It was going to be a long day.

Driving to school cut the twenty minutes in half. Mom parked and practically had to drag me to the main office. There weren't many kids there, but the ones who were just stared at me. I don't know if they recognized me or not, but the stares were making me uncomfortable.

"May I help you, ma'am?" the lady in the office asked Mom.

"Yes, I need to fix a small problem with one of your students." Mom smiled sweetly.

"What kind of problem and which student?" the lady asked in a bored voice.

"Robin McCallister." Mom answered.

"What about Mr. McCallister?" the lady asked.

"It's not "mr.", it's "misses." Mom announced. The lady looked up at her, confusion in her eyes, before she glanced at me. Mom continued. "You say, my daughter has been impersonating a boy for the past month. Her real name is Elenore Robyn McCallister. Robyn with a y."

"Oh um." The lady looked from Mom, to me, and back again. Finally she looked at me and asked, "Is this true?"

"Yes ma'am." I replied quietly.

"I'll change the name right away." The lady was still clearly shocked.

"Thank you." Mom smiled. "Would it be all right if I talked to Elenore's teachers?"

"Of course. Of course. Go right ahead!" The lady was to shocked to do anything but agree.

The next ten minutes were pure torture. All the teachers just stared at me like I was an alien. There was five minutes left till school began when Mom finally left. Nervously, I hurried to homeroom. As I walked through the hallway, I could feel the entire school's eyes on me. I heard some whisper "That looks like..." and others just asked "Who's the new kid?" This was going to be a very long, very awkward day.

When I got to homeroom, I saw that none of the guys were there yet. I quickly took my seat, ignoring the stares. I was just getting use to ignoring the stares, when something happened that I couldn't ignore. Someone jumped up and sat on my desk.

"Why hello there, pretty lady." Phillips flirted. "What's your name."

"Get off my desk, moron!" I ordered, pushing him.

"Hey there." Phillips clearly didn't recognize me. "We don't even know each other."

I stood up and faced him.

"You idiot!" I hissed, my temper flaring. "Do you not recognize the one you beat unconscious yesterday?"

Phillips eyes widened when I said that.

"What?" His eyes widened even more when it finally clicked. "Wait a second, _McCallister_?"

"Yeah. Now get out of here and leave me alone, dog brain!" I ordered.

"You're a _girl?_" his shock was evident.

"Very clever, dimwit." I could feel my anger getting the best of me. "Yes I'm a girl. I always have been and always will be. Now get out of here and leave me alone before yesterday happens to you!"

Whether I scared him or he was just to confused to argue, Phillips did as I said. At that moment, Benny, Kenny, and Ham walked in. They didn't seem surprised to see me in a dress-I suppose Smalls told them on the walk to school-but there eyebrows did raise as they looked me up and down.

"Quit staring, or I'm going to hit you." I threatened.

They immediatly muttered apologies and sat down as the bell rang. Copying the announcements down quickly, they turned around to face me and I knew I wasn't going to like today at all.

"You look good, Robbie." Kenny complimented.

"You look _hot._" Ham added, his eyes wide.

I slapped him upside the head.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed as he rubbed his head, even though I hadn't hit him that hard.

"For saying that." I replied. "I look like a complete idiot. I want my real clothes back!"

"You still look hot." Ham grinned as I slapped him again.

"So you're giving your secret up?" Benny asked.

"I have no choice." I replied sadly. "Mom forced me."

"Forced you?" Kenny repeated.

I nodded. "She's trying to turn me into a proper young lady." I scoffed. "Like that will ever happen."

"She's certainly got a hard battle ahead." Benny commented.

"You look hot." Ham repeated.

I slapped him again, harder this time.

"I swear, Ham." I threatened, "If you stop saying that, I'm going to hit you with a bat!"

That got him quiet.

"So are you going to the sandlot today?" Benny asked.

"Definatly." I answered. "I got my clothes in my bag. I'll have to change before we go though."

"We'll wait." Kenny smiled.

We talked some more until the bell rang. The rest of the day went by slowly and awkwardly. At lunch, the rest of the guys did nothing but stare. Except Smalls, he just smiled and acted as if nothing had changed. Squints and Yeah-Yeah each made comments on how I looked, but one slap shut them up.

When the final bell rang, I was the first out. It took me less then five minutes to change. As soon as I got back into jeans I felt much more comfortable. Ham made another comment about how he prefered the dress, so I slapped him hard on the arm with a book. Then we all hurried to the sandlot like nothing had changed.


	17. Chapter 17: Not All There

**_I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. _**

_Chapter 17: Not All There_

A week passed with the same routine. Mom would make me wear a dress to school, I'd change and go to the sandlot, change again behind a tree, go home and listen to my parents fight over how to raise me, then go to bed. Except for the dress and my parents fighting, the day's couldn't be better.

Phillips had taken to avoiding us. Even the paperwads in class had stopped. No one knew exactly why he had backed down, though I suspected it was because he didn't know how to act because of me. I knew it was to good to last, but it was a nice change.

I should have known it was all to good to last.

The day had started normal. I threw on the most disgusting dress I had-a bright red one-and hurried as fast as the dress allowed me to meet up with Smalls and Benny. Mom yelled something after me, but she did that almost every morning so I paid her no mind. The day went fast, and the paperwads resumed. I lost track of how many hit me in the head through all the periods.

Finally the bell rang and I changed as quickly as possible. Like everyday, we raced to the sandlot, with Benny winning as always. After a few minutes of joking around, we immediatly started playing ball.

"Go one!" Benny shouted as he threw the ball in the air and hit it.

The ball flew into the air in a pop-up, it looked like it was going far, then it started coming down a few paces to my left.

"I got it!" I shouted, letting Squints know to go to second.

The ball came down, I easily caught it and threw it to Timmy on third. I knelt down as Timmy threw the ball to Squints at second, then to Yeah-Yeah at first, who threw it to Ham.

"Awesome!" Benny shouted. "That was perfect!"

"Toss it here, Ham!" Kenny yelled.

Ham threw the ball to Ham, who missed. Everyone laughed as I scooped up the ball and gently tossed it back to Kenny.

"All right, Benny man," Kenny started, "This is a new thing I've been workin' on. I call it the..."

"Elenore Robyn McCallister! What on earth do you think you are doing?"

Everyone spun around and stared as Mom barged onto the sandlot. She headed straight at me and in a loud voice repeated,

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Playing baseball." I replied, my cheeks turning red in embarrasment and anger.

"Where are your clothes?" She screetched.

"I'm wearing them." I replied, knowing full well that I wasn't wearing the 'clothes' she referred too.

"Why aren't you wearing your dress?" Mom's fists were cleanching and unclenching.

"You can't play baseball in a dress, Mom." I answered.

"You are a lady and ladies do _not _play baseball!" Mom said.

"Well this girl does." I replied stubbornly, crossing my arms.

Everyone was shocked when Mom slapped me across the face.

"You are going home right now, young lady." Mom hissed, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the street. "You are grounded!"

I was to shocked to resist. I could feel the warmth on my face where she had slapped me and I knew it would be red soon. I looked back and saw the shocked looks on the guys faces.

"I'm sorry!" I mouthed.

No one mouthed anything back or said anything. I looked up at the fury on Mom's face as she dragged me down the sidewalk. Fear started to rise as I remembered Dad's warning.

_'Be careful. She's not all there.'_


	18. Chapter 18: When WIll it Be Over?

**_Sorry this chapter is so long in coming! I'm working on self-publishing a book and between that and my recent laziness and obssession with the show Merlin, I haven't had any time or insperation to write. I'm sorry to say that the rest of the chapters probably will be very slow in coming. There is only three, maybe four, chapters left, but I've got a case of writer's block for this story so it will be a little longer. Sorry! Hope you enjoy the story though. _**

_Chapter 18: When Will It Be Over?_

Mom dragged me all the way home, muttering under her breath the entire time, although she never said a word to me. It wasn't until we were outside the house that I realized I had left my backpack at the sandlot. I started to tell Mom, but thought better of it when I looked at her angry face again.

When we went inside, Dad and a man in a business suit sat at a table with a few loose papers between them. I looked up at Mom, remembering what Dad had said about the divorce and restraining order. She seemed to understand, or at least guessed at, what was going on. Her face was turning red, and her grip on my arm was tightening.

"Are we inturrpting something?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Meredith." Dad answered, his face straight. "What are you doing home already Robyn?"

"Elenore here," Mom hissed, emphasizing _Elenore_, "Is grounded for disobeying and wearing boys clothes and playing a boys' sport. She will not be going anywhere for the next week without me or another girl accompying her."

"What?" I pratically shouted as I wrenched my arm from her grasp. "You can't do that! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"I specifically told you to wear your dress and your dress only. " Mom snapped. "You are going no where without me or another girl with you. And you will go no where dressed like that!"

My anger was getting the best of me. I was shaking as I clenched my fists and held them by my side. Dad clearly saw this and spoke up before I exploded.

"I think it would be best to continue our talk tomorrow, Mr. Blevins."

"Yes, yes, quite right." Mr. Blevins said with a northern accent. "Until then."

With a cautious glance at Mom, he gathered up the papers into a briefcase and hurried out the door. I used the momentary silence of him walking away to rush up to my room.

"You get back down here, Elenore!" Mom screetched.

"My name is Robyn!" I yelled back, slamming the door to my room and locking it.

I heard her and Dad start yelling, but their voices were muffled. I didn't know what to do. I walked around my room for a few minutes, grabbing at my head as tears slowly slipped from eyes. Was it really only a month that we had lived here? Only a week since my life had turned inside out?

I jumped on my bed and buried my face in my pillow and cried. The last thought before I fell into a fitful sleep was, "_When will this nightmare be over?"_


	19. Chapter 19: How Much More?

_Chapter 19: How Much More?_

Mom went through with her words from the night before. Before I left for school, she checked my bag for extra clothes and when she found them and my glove, she quickly removed them.

"You won't be needing this anymore." She said as she started toward the trash can, my glove in her hand.

"No! Don't!" I shouted, running toward her. I grabbed the glove away from her and hurried out of her reach.

"Give that back, young lady!" Mom ordered angerly.

"It was my grandpa's!" I exclaimed, hiding the glove behind me. "If you won't let me play, at least let me keep it."

Her face turned down in a frown, but she relunctently gave in.

"Take it to your room and leave it there." she ordered stiffly. "And if I catch you with it out or playing with it, it will be going in the trash!"

I nodded, anger beginning to coarse through me. Reluctantly, I took the glove and clothes back up to my room and tossed them on my bed. I glanced out the window and saw Smalls walking out of his house. That got my feet moving and I hurried down the stairs.

"I'm going to the sandlot after school." I yelled at mom as I opened the door.

"You better not play!" she snapped at me.

I just ran out the door and slammed it shut. I ran across the street and caught up with Smalls easily. He must have seen the angry look on my face because he just said "Morning." and didn't ask any questions. The rest of the guys, on the other hand, did nothing but ask questions as they joined us as we walked.

After the tenth time I was asked "What's wrong?" I snapped and yelled at the guys to leave it be. That got them quiet and I immediatly felt guilty.

"Sorry," I appologized and sighed. "Mom took my glove and extra clothes away."

"She what?" "How could she?" "Is she crazy?" "Is she crazy?" they all talked at once.

"Can you still go to the sandlot?" Smalls asked when the rest finally shushed.

I nodded. "But I don't have pants or a glove."

"I got an extra glove." Benny spoke up. "You can use it if ya want."

I raised my eyebrows in question.

"In this?" I stressed, lazily motioning toward the dark blue dress I wore.

Benny just blushed and shrugged.

"I'll try." I smiled. "Just don't expect me to do any runnin'. I can barely walk in this thing."

Everyone laughed, and I joined in after a minute. We hurried as fast as possible to school and got there with five minutes to spare. School passed by excrutiatingly slow and it felt like days instead of just hours. When the final bell rang, we all pratically ran out of the school.

Once we got to the sandlot, Benny handed me the spare glove and I took my place in right field.

"Go two!" Benny yelled before tossing the ball and hitting it to Timmy at first.

It was high and Timmy jumped, but it flew over him and landed several feet in front of me. Forgetting I was in a dress, I took off at a run toward the ball, but the end of the dress twisted around my legs and I fell to the ground. Angrily, I got to my feet and slowly walked to the ball and threw it to Yeah-Yeah at second.

It only took one more face plant for me to call it quits. No one argued as I stomped to the dugout and sat down with my arms crossed. I spent the rest of the day watching and tossing a rock around. Needless to say, I was not happy at all. I never thought I would be happy for the day to end, but I cheered up for a bit when the sun began to set.

The anger came back the second I stepped into my house. Mom and Dad were fighting again. She was yelling at him and throwing anything she could get her hands on. Luckily they were in the living room and she only threw pillows before stomping up the stairs to her room.

Dad turned around with a frustrated look on his face. He gave a small smile when he saw me standing by the door.

"How much longer?" I asked quietly.

"A week." Dad sighed as he walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. "One week and she's gone."

"I can't wait." I muttered.

"I'm sorry, Robyn." Dad said sadly, holding me at arms leangth. "I know you've always wanted your mom in your life."

I shook my head. "Not when she dictates my every move." I answered coldly. "If that's what a mother does, then I'm glad I just have you."

"Not all mothers are like her." Dad smiled slightly, glad I was taking it so well most likely. "She's just got problems. Always has."

I nodded and hugged him again.

"I'm going to go do my homework." I told him.

"Supper will be ready in an hour." he replied as he headed toward the kitchen.

I sighed as I started up the stairs. _'How much more of this can I take?'_


	20. Chapter 20: Fight in the Mud

**_I know it's been forever since I last updated and I'm really sorry for that...blaim Merlin and Harry Potter haha Anyways, there is only two chapters left, three at the most, and I hope to have those finished and up by the end of the week...no promises though. I hope you like this nice long chapter. :)_**

_Chapter 20: Fight in the Mud_

The next day started out the same as the previous one. Mom checked my bag again, but this time I was smart and didn't pack clothes or my glove. She had a big smile on her face and gave me a hug when she didn't find them. I half returned her hug, not happy in the least.

None of the guys said a word as we walked to school. The day was overcast with dark clouds threatening rain. Everyone seemed to be in a sour mood, even Smalls who was usually cheerful even when the rest of us weren't. We were almost to the school when the sky let loose and a violent rain storm began.

We all took off at a run, with me in the very back. I was almost to the doors when my legs got tangled in my sky blue dress and I fell and hit the wet concret hard. Smalls and Kenny were the only ones who noticed and they quickly helped me to my feet before pratically dragging me into the building.

My hands and arms were scraped fairy bad with small trickles of blood seeping out of them. Dark red spots were beginning to form where my dress met my knees. I started to stop to wipe the blood away, but there was no time and we had to hurry straight to class.

Once there, I grabbed a paper towel and wiped the blood up. Benny asked what happened, and I told him I had fallen. He flinched and blushed, embarrassed that he hadn't noticed I guess. I just shrugged and tried to wipe the blood off my dress. It had already dried though, and so I had dull red spots on the bottom of my dress. I didn't care, but I knew Mom would.

"Ahh did little Miss Birdie get a boo-boo?" Phillips taunted as he walked up and sat down in the chair behind me, kicking the boy who had been sitting there out. His followers did the same until me, Kenny, Ham, and Benny were surrounded.

"What do you want, Dung head?" Ham snapped before I could say anything.

"Stay out of this, Porky." Phillips growled, his fists clenching. "This is between me and Birdie."

"Mess with one and you mess with us all, Phillips!" Benny replied angerly.

Kenny and Ham nodded in agreement. I smiled slightly when I heard that. Having never had friends before, Benny had no idea how much his words meant to me.

"Ahh isn't that sweet." Phillips taunted. "Looks like Rodriguez finally grew up and got him a girlfriend."

My eyes narrowed at those words. Yes, I liked Benny, but not in that way! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Benny blushing and trying to say something, but words wouldn't come to him.

"How would you know?" I answered. "It's not like there's any girl stupid enough to want to be your girlfriend. And for your information, I am not anyone's girlfriend."

I could see I had struck a nerve on the girlfriend comment. Phillips was breathing hard and his hands were forming and unforming fists.

"Just get out of here, Meat head!" Ham snapped, eager for a name calling war.

"Make me, Crap Face."

"That's my word, Dog breath!"

"It's a free country, Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Jerk!"

"You drink out of the toilit, and you like it!"

"You get your insults from your Mom!"

"You were dresses at home!"

"You..."

"Is something wrong?" the monotone teacher asked as he walked over and stood in front of us.

None of us had realized Ham and Phillips had started yelling, we had been so caught up in the excitement.

"No sir!" Phillips squeaked in embarassment.

"Just a friendly little insult match." Ham added.

"Insult match?" the teacher raised one eyebrow.

"They're trying to see who has the best insults." Kenny explained quickly. "It's been going on for awhile now. All in good fun of course."

_'Good lie.'_ I thought.

The teacher didn't look like he believed it, but the bell rang before he could do anything about it. The rest of the day passed quickly and by lunch the rain had stopped and the sun was out and shining. The ground was extreamly muddy, but that didn't stop us from going outside.

Not many were willing to brave the mud, and so there were only about thirty kids outside while the rest remained inside. There wasn't a baseball game going on due to the mud, and everyone could tell Benny wasn't to happy about that. We managed to find a semi-dry piece of ground underneath a large tree near the baseball diamond.

"Dare you to go jump in that mud puddle!" Squints dared Smalls.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah added eagerly with his mouth full. "Unless your to chicken!"

"I'm not chicken!" Smalls blushed, though he made no move toward the mud puddle."I just don't wanna get dirty."

Everyone laughed at him and the subject was dropped, which surprised me since normally Squints wouldn't give up so easy. The next ten minutes passed quickly, and I soon realized why Squints had given up so easy. As Smalls got up to throw his trash away, Squints and Yeah-Yeah quickly followed, pestering him the whole time about jumping in the mud puddle. With each taunt, Smalls face got redder and redder in embarrasment.

"All right!" he finally sighed. "Just quit with the pestering!"

Everyone laughed as Smalls reluctently walked over to the large mud puddle. With one look back, he put the very tip of his shoe in the muddle, pulled it back out, and back in again quickly. With a grin, he turned around and looked at us, confusion on our faces.

"You never said my whole foot had to be in the puddle." He laughed.

Everyone but Squints and Yeah-Yeah burst out laughing. After a few moments, they joined in also. Smalls started to walk back to us, but a group of boys cut him off before he could join us. We all jumped up, mostly finished lunches forgotten, and started forward, but Phillips' gang cut us off, blocking us from Smalls.

"Well, well, well." Phillips taunted from in front of Smalls. "What have we here? A little nerd seperated from his protectors."

"Leave him alone, Phillips!" Benny shouted as he made to get through to Phillips, but was pushed back by one of the goons.

Being shorter then almost all of the Tigers, I couldn't see Smalls and I didn't like it one bit. All of the guys were like my brothers, but Smalls was the little brother I had never had and I was closer to him then anyone. Seeing a fight coming, I bent down and took my shoes off, knowing it would be hard to fight in a dress, but impossible if I wore those cursed shoes.

Tossing my shoes back toward my lunch, I straightened up and moved to the side slightly, giving space between me and Kenny. There were nine guys blockig us from Smalls, and I noticed another four standing over to the side. I didn't know who they were, but I had seen them hanging aroud with Phillips before and I knew this wasn't going to end pretty.

"What you gonna do, nerd?" Phillips sneered, ignoring Benny's outburst.

Smalls didn't reply and I wished I could see better so I could know what was going on. I saw the top of Phillips' head move as he took a step closer to Smalls.

"Your clothes are awful clean, nerd." Phillips said and I instantly knew what he was planning.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Phillips." I said loudly, causing a few of the guys and the Tigers to look at me in confusion, clearly not knowing what was going on.

Phillips head turned around, and he took a step backwards.

"And who's gonna stop me, Birdie?" Phillips asked.

I started to reply, but Phillips cut me off as he moved forward quickly and, with a cry from Smalls, a splash was heard. Then it all broke loose. The guys all charged forward and this time the Tiger's couldn't hold them back. An all out fight broke out.

I waited a moment, trying to avoid the largest of the boys. I quickly spotted a boy about my size as he jumped onto Squints back. I rushed forward and easily peeled the boy off Squints, and delivered a swift, hard punch to the boy's face. He stumbled backwards in surprise, clearly shocked that I had taken part in the fight.

He got over it quick though, and started to move toward Benny who was wrestling on the ground with Phillips.

"I don't think so." I muttered as I took another step and hit the guy in the gut, doubling him over.

When he straightened back up, there was fury in his eyes and I grinned slightly. It had been awhile since the last good fight. The boy came at me and made to grab me, but I easily avoided him and tripped him, sendig him to the muddy ground. Knowing we needed the advantage, I took the cheap shot and kicked him between the legs and backed away, leaving the boy on the ground moaning in pain.

The four boys I had noticed had waded into the fight, taking Phillips side of course. Yeah-Yeah had two boys on him, and so did Smalls and Kenny. Kenny was closer, so I hurried toward the extra guy. I grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. Surprise and confusion was in his eyes as I punched him in the face.

Unlike the last boy, this one was tall and big, twice my size both ways. The punch knocked his head to the side, but he recovered fast and wasted no time in bringing his fist up toward my face. His size made him slow, though, so I easily dodged and delivered two swift punches to his stomach. He stumbled backwards, but shrugged the blows off. I frowned, seeing I had bit off more then I could chew this time.

The large boy came after me again, his fists clenched. He feinted with his right, and I fell for it, earning me a hard punch to my left cheek. My head snapped back and I stumbled backwards. I shook my head, trying to clear the black spots that kept spinning in front of me. The boy took advantage of my hesitation; he rushed toward me, placed his hands on my arms, and lifted me up off the ground. I struggled, but he just tightened his grip. Thinking quickly, i brought my knee up and kneed him as hard as I could in his stomach. He started to double over, and I brought my knee up again, causing him to let go of me.

I fell to the ground, and rolled, glad I had worn a short pair of pants underneath my dress. I got to my feet quickly and saw that the boy was starting to straighten up again. I wasted no time I punched him once, twice, three times in the face and kicked him in the stomach, sending him to the ground, blood trickling from a cut on his face.

I turned around, feeling a little blood on my own cheek. A boy backed into me, and I turned around quickly, only to find myself face to face with Smalls. He was covered in mud, his lip was bleeding and he had two big boys coming after him. I planted my feet beside Smalls and waited for the two brutes to come within range. When they did, I kicked out and caught the closest one in the gut.

"What are you doing, Robyn?" Smalls asked as he dodged a punch.

"Beating some jerks up." I replied as I dodged under the one I had kicked's arm.

"Get out of here before yo..." he was cut off as a punch to the face sent him to the ground.

"Get hurt." he finished, his teeth clenched as he got unsteadily to his feet.

I didn't reply as a fist conected with my face, snapping my head to the side and knocking me backwards into the mud puddle Smalls had been pushed into earlier. I frowned as I stood up, knowing Mom would kill me when I got home. I stood up just as the brute I was fighting brought his fist around.

I ducked and brought my fist into the boy's stomach two times before he backed out of my range. Something hit me in the back and I fell to the ground, a body falling on top of me and pinning me to the ground. I realized that it was a dazed Ham on me, so I gently pushed him off me and left him on the ground shaking his head.

I got to my feet, only to find mysef face to face with Phillips who had freed himself from the wrestling match with Benny who was currently occupied with two large boys and getting the worse of it.

"Well hello, Birdie." He grinned evily and started to grab my wrist.

I saw his hand move, so I wasted no time in laying my fist into his face. He stumbled back a step as I kicked my leg out to kick him in the gut. I misjudged his reactions, though, and suddenly found my foot caught firmly in his hands. He grinned at me and pulled, sending me to the ground again, this time just outside the mud puddle.

I hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of me. A kick to my ribs rolled me onto my back, and what little breath I had left escaped as I gasped in pain. Another kick, followed by another, left me breathless and in pain. The kicks ceased, and I struggled to get to my knees, when a rough hand grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet.

"Told you you would pay." Phillips hissed as he jerked me up right nad held me in front of him.

I took the time to get my breath back before bringing my knee up between Phillip's legs. Pain swept across his face as he doubled over in pain. He let my arm go, and I quickly brought it up to his face and punched him as hard as I could. He stumbled to the side, still doubled over, and I quickly took another step toward him and, straigtening him up, I gave him a swift punch to the face and pushed him backwards into the mud puddle.

He hit with a splash and mud flew everywhere. He fell straight back, his head landing in the mud. A hand on my shoulder spun me around and I didn't have time to react before a fist hit me hard and knocked me backwards. I felt someone grab me and stop me from falling and looked quickly. Through the black spots, I saw Benny's bruised and bleeding face.

He made sure I was steady on my feet before letting me go. I looked around and saw that the fight was still going on, but Benny put his hand on my shoulder as I went back after the guy who punched me.

"Get out of here, Robbie." He ordered.

"Why should I?" I barked.

"Because you'll get hurt!" He replied.

"I can take care of myself!" I snapped. Behind Benny, I could see one of Phillip's goons coming up. "Behind you!"

Benny spun around and the goon was surprised, giving Benny time to punch him back. Before he could turn around and stop me, I went back to the guy who had punched me. He was still standing in the same place, ganging up on Kenny with another guy.

I grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him just as he had done me. He recovered fast and charged at me, swinging more punches then I could dodge. A punch to my face knocked me to the ground, but he didn't quit and started kicking at me. I grabed at his leg and pulled, yanking his leg out from underneath him. He crashed to the groud, giving me time to get to my feet.

I wiped at my lip and saw that my hand was bloody. I flinched as I thought of what Mom would say when I got home. I started to go back after hte boy who had gotten back to his feet, when a loud voice stopped the fight cold.

"What is going on here?" It was the angry voice of the principle, a big man of six feet.

We all jumped back, stopping the fight. I looked around and saw that Ham was on top of a boy, his fist pulled back. Kenny and another boy had a hold of each other's collers. Phillips had Benny in a chokehold, and Smalls was on the ground with two large boys standig over him. Squints and Yeah-Yeah each were on the ground ontop of two different boys. Timmy and Tommy were ganged up on a large boy.

"I said, what is going on here?" the principle shouted again.

With a quick glance, I saw the only one about to answer was Phillips. Knowing that wouldn't end well, I spoke up.

"Smalls was standing beside a mud puddle when Phillips and his friends walked up and Phillips pushed him into the puddle, Mr. Jenkins. We had to defend our friend."

"And why didn't you come and get a teacher, Miss McCallister?" Mr. Jenkins glared at me, anger in his eyes.

"Didn't think of it." I muttered, rubbing my bare feet together like I do when I get nervous.

I looked down at my muddy feet and kept rubbing them together nervously.

"All of you have detention this afternoon." the Principle snapped. "Now clean up as best you can and get to class."

He turned around and stomped back inside. We all stood there for a few minutes, mud dripping off of all of us and blood seeping out of random cuts. It was Phillips who broke the silence.

"This isn't over losers." he sneered as he started walking back to the school.

He walked with a slight limp I noticed with a small grin. The rest of the Tigers followed him, all nursing their own cuts and bruises. I took the time to study myself. I had a bruise on my right cheek, my lip was split and bleeding. My hands were swollen and sore, and my feet weren't much better. My light blue dress was now brown and caked with mud. My hair was cold and wet and muddy. There wasn't a part of me not caked in mud, I noticed.

I turned around and looked at hte guys. None of them looked to good either. Benny, Kenny, and Smalls all had black eyes and split lips. Timmy and Tommy's faces were bruised, but not bleeding. Squints and Yeah-Yeah probably were the worst, with bleeding cuts all over their faces and bruises where they weren't bleeding. Ham looked the best, though he was still bleeding and bruised. Everyone was caked in mud.

I walked over, my legs and arms painfuly stiff, and pulled my shoes back on before grabbing what was left of my lunch and threw it away. The rest of the guys were doing the same and we all started walking painfully to the school when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked and saw that it was Benny. He pulled me to the side and waved the rest of the guys on as the bell rang.

"We need to be going, Benny." I said, confused as to why he had pulled me aside. "We'll be late to class. I'd really rather not get another detention."

"You shouldn't have detention in the first place." Benny replied.

"Why shouldn't I? I was part of the fight too." I asked in confusion.

"You shouldn't have been in the fight." He explained. I raised my eyebrows and he continued. "You're a girl. You could have...you _did_ get hurt. You should have stepped back and let us have handled it. You didn't need to be involved."

I looked at him in shock, not sure I had heard him right. His hand was still on my shouder and I shook myself loose from him.

"You didn't have any problems a month ago." I said coldly, backing away.

"I didn't know you were a girl then!" Benny exclaimed. "If I had known I wouldn't have let you!"

My eyes narrowed angerly.

"I can take care of myself." My voice was low as I tried to keep my anger in. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm not an average girl. I don't need protecting. If I want to fight alongside my brothers, I will. And nothing you say will change that."

My anger barely kept in check, I turned around and stomped into the school, leaving Benny behind me.


	21. Chapter 21: Passing Notes

**_Ok, this chapter is kinda slow, but bear with me, the next chapter will be right back to action. There will be two or three, possibly four more chapters (I keep getting new ideas hte more I write! haha) _**

_Chapter 21: Passing Notes_

When I walked inside the school, the guys were all standig their. Obviously they had stayed and watched to see what Benny wanted, even if they hadn't been able to hear. One look at me, and they all scattered to the next class. I brushed right past them without a word. I heard Smalls call my name and start to move to follow, but Ham grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that Smalls." I heard Ham shout-whisper.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah quickly added. "You don't want to go near a girl when she's mad."

_'Wrong thing to say Yeah-Yeah.'_ I thought grimly.

I knew it was wrong of me, but I couldn't help but get mad at all the guys, especially Benny. After all the time I had known them, I had thought they were different! That they didn't believe in sterotypes!

I took a deep breath as I reached my locker and got my books. I knew it wasn't fair. They are just guys after all, and guys always have this thig about protecting girls.

_'Ha! Like I need protecting!'_ I thought angerly as I slammed my locker shut, startling several girls around me and sending them whispering. _'I was doing just fine on my own! What right does Benny have to tell me to stay out of a fight?'_

_'He didn't tell you to stay out of the fight,'_ a voice in my head answered. _'He just said you _shouldn't_ have been in the fight cause you're a girl and could get hurt.' _

_'Thats my point!'_ I silently yelled at the voice. _'I'm not a normal girl! He knows that! I've proved that!'_

_'He just didn't want you to get hurt.'_

_'Ah shut it!' _

I took a deep breath.

"Great." I muttered out loud. "I'm arguing with myself."

I made it to the class just as the bell rang. The guys were already there and I saw that the only seats open were beside Phillips or Benny. I frowned as I took the seat beside Benny. No matter how mad I was at him, there was no way on earth I was going to sit beside Phillips.

The teacher started talking and I got ready to take notes when a piece of paper suddenly landed on top of the page. I unfolded it and recognized Benny's handwriting.

_Hey, I'm sorry about what I said. I wasn't thinking. I know you can take care of yourself. _

I glanced over at Benny and saw that he was waiting for me to answer and pass the note back.

_No, you were thinking. Thinking that I'm nothing but a little girl who can't take care of herself and should go and stay clean and cheer all the "tough" boys on. _

I had no intention of letting him off easy and I made sure he knew that. I tossed the note back when the teacher turned his back. After a minute or so, the note landed back on my desk.

_I'm sorry, Robbie. Really, I am. I was just worried. I didn't want you hurt. I didn't mean it. I know you're not the average girl. If you were you wouldn't have disguised yourself for over a month. I'm really sorry. Forgive me? _

I sighed. I could feel my anger starting to melt away. How could I stay mad at someone who just didn't want me hurt?

_I guess. Just don't do it again or you'll be hurting worse then you are now. _

I passed it back and saw Benny bite back a laugh. I gave him a look to show that I was serious and the laugh dissapeared as he began writing and passed the note back.

_Won't happen again, promise! So what did you mean when ya said somethin' bout fighting alongside your brothers. _

I flinched. I hadn't realized I had said that out loud. I wasn't good at sharing my feelings and I didn't like to, not even to my Dad. That's why I write, so I don't have talk to aybody about how I feel. I sighed. No way I could get out of it this time.

_That's what ya'll are to me. You're all the brothers I've never had. _

I passed it back and waited for him to pass it back. I risked a glance and saw Kenny passing the note back to Benny. I rolled my eyes, realizing he was sharing our conversation with Ham and Kenny. Finally he passed it back to me and I saw that Ham and Kenny had added notes as well.

_We think the same bout you, Robbie...uh except you not like a brother. -Ham_

_Smooth, Ham. What Ham means is we all feel like your our sister. -Kenny_

_They're right, Robbie. The other guys think the same too. That's why we're defensive about you. You're our sister. -Benny_

I couldn't help but smile as I wrote back and passed the note.

_Get too defensive and you'll be hurting same as Phillips and the rest. So how long ya think it'll be till all this mud comes off? _

The rest of the class passed by with us passing notes and joking around. It was surprising we didn't get caught considering we all almost burst out laughing several times. The rest of school passed by quickly. When it came time for detention, me ad the guys all grabbed seats in the very back, leaving the Tigers to sit in the front. Every seat was full and I'm sure it was biggest detention the school had had all year.

I sat down between Benny and Smalls just as the principle walked in. His arms were folded across his chest and the look on his face was one of anger. He stared at us all for a few moments before beginning his speech.

"I can't tell you all how dissapointed I am in all of you. You all know fightig is against the rules. If this happens again, you all will be suspended" He turned and looked at Phillips. "Mr. Phillips, I am most dissapointed in you. I have heard from several witnesses that it was you who started the fight by pushing Mr. Smalls into the puddle. You have detention every day for the rest of the week. I have notified your coach and he said the next fight you and your team are in will be the last day of your baseball career." Phillips' eyes got real round when he heard that and he looked afraid. The principle scanned the seats until he was looking at me. "Miss McCallister, witnesses have said that you threatened Mr. Phillips before the fight began."

"What?" Me and the rest of the guys all said in shock. Phillips smirked.

"I believe you said something along the lines of 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'" The principle paused to see if I would deny that.

"I wasn't threatning him though!" I argued, not abe to deny that I had said that.

"Then what did you mean by that?" The principle stared at me and I squirmed slightly.

"I didn't mean anything, sir." I replied nervously. "I was just trying to make him stop from pushing Smalls into the mud puddle. I didn't mean anything."

"And what exactly were you hoping Mr. Phillips would do at your words?" The principle stared at me, causing me to squirm even more.

"I don't know." I replied quietly. Honestly, I hadn't been thinking. It had just come out.

"You have detention the rest of the week along with Mr. Phillips." The principle announced. "Perhaps that will teach you two not to start fights."

Then he walked out of the room and the detention teacher walked in.

"No talking. You may work on homework for the remainder of hte hour." the woman said as she sat down behind the desk and pulled out a stack of papers to grade.

I sat back in my desk and pulled out my history homework. Before I could start on it, a note slid onto my desk. I looked over at Smalls who was pulling his hand back. I reached for hte paper and read the note.

_Thanks for sticking up for me and trying to stop him. How bad did you get hurt? _

_Not bad._ I wrote. _Not bad at all compared to last month when they jumped me. How are you? _

I passed it back and waited. It didn't take long before he passed the note back to me.

_All right. Not gonna lie, it hurts, but I'll get over it. You could have stayed out of the fight you know. You're mom is going to kill you for getting dirty and into a fight. _

I sighed. I had been trying to forget about what I would have to go home to.

_I know. It don't matter though. She'll be gone by next week if the divorce goes through like it should. And I couldn't leave you all to have all the fun, now could I? _

I handed the note back and watched as he rolled his eyes before writing and passing it back.

_You call that fight fun? _

_Sure, it was. Isn't beating up deserving jerks and playing in the mud suppose to be fun?_

He almost laughed when he read the note. He put his hand to his mouth to keep the laugh from escaping and passed the note back.

_You're crazy. _

I rolled my eyes.

_You're just now realizing this? _

_Nah, just confirming it. _

_Geeze thanks. _

When he read that, a frown crossed his face.

_Sorry, didn't mean to insult you. _

I rolled my eyes.

_I was being sarcastic. I know I'm crazy. Heck, I'm proud of it! Being crazy keeps me sane. _

Again, he almost laughed before passing the note back.

_That makes no sence. _

_And that's the way I like it!_

He almost laughed again, but he was getting better at hiding it.

_Benny said you thought of us as your brothers. Is that true? _

I flinched. To much feeling sharing in one day. I really wasn't use to this.

_Yeah. Ya'll are the closest I've ever had to brothers. _

_You never had a close friend before?_

_Smalls, I'm a girl who hates all things girly and plays baseball day in and out. Even Texas that's not normal. Ya'll are my first real friends._

_Really?_

_Yep. _

I could tell he was surprised. After all, I had never shared much of my background before. I hoped I wouldn't have to now.

_I never had a real friend before I came here either. To nerdy. _

That surprised me. I couldn't see how someone as nice and friendly as Smalls could never have had a real friend.

_Well that's a stupid reason to not be friends with someone. _

_Eh, I'm use to it. If it wasn't for Benny I wouldn't have any friends now either._

_You mean the story bout that dog and Benny is true? _

They had told me about a summer or two ago how Benny had pickled the dog they called the Beast, but I had thought they were making it all up.

_Yep, it's true. Every last bit of it. _

_Well...if Ham and Squints and Yeah-Yeah didn't make up stories so often maybe I would believe them more. _

The rest of the hour passed quickly as me and Smalls passed notes back and forth. Benny and a couple of the other guys passed notes to, and again I was shocked that the teacher didn't notice. Or maybe she didn't care because the second the bell rang she was out the door.

"So should we all go home and change or go on to the sandlot?" Timmy asked.

"Change or sandlot?" Tommy repeated.

"Sandlot!" Benny quickly said as we walked out into the sunlight.

"Change." Everyone else said.

Benny frowned, but gave in easy. He obviously didn't like being muddy any more then the rest of us. We all agreed to run home and change and meet up at the sandlot in thirty minutes. It would have been less, but Squints was sure that his Mom would chew him out, and we all agreed with him.

The walk home didn't take to long, and with each step I grew more and more nervous. I hated to admit it, but I was scared that Mom wouldn't let me go back to the sandlot whe she saw me and learned about the fight. Smalls and Benny solved that problem though.

"We figured we'd walk you home and explain to your mom that a bully pushed you in the mud and started beating on you." Smalls explained when I asked why they weren't going to their homes.

"Thanks." I smiled in relief. I just hoped Mom would believe the lie.

I noticed that Dad's truck was home, which was odd since he was usually either working or at the lawyer's office, or just driving around to avoid Mom who never left the house except to shop. We walked up the porch and I pushed open the door. The sight I saw when the door swung open will haunt me the rest of my days.

In the living room, my Mom stood, tears in her eyes and her dress all wrinkled a pistol in her hand and pointing at my Dad.


	22. Chapter 22: My Name is Robyn

_**Last chapter for tonight. The rest of the story should be up and finished by tomorrow or the next day!**_

_Chapter 22: My Name is Robyn_

_In the living room, my Mom stood, tears in her eyes and her dress all wrinkled, a pistol in her hand and pointing at my Dad. _

For a second I was frozen as I took it all in. The room was a mess; pillows and cushions were thrown around, the couch and table were flipped over, lamps were on the floor broken. Dad had a black eye and his lip and forehead were bleeding. There wasn't a scratch on Mom, though her dress was wrinkled and not perfectly neat like it usually was and tears were in her eyes. Although she was breathing heavy and sobbing, the gun in her hand was completly still, the hammer cocked, and pointing straight at Dad's chest.

I saw all this in a split second before I acted.

"Dad!" I shouted and ran forward to him.

"Robyn!" Dad exclaimed in shock as I ran into his arms.

"Elenore!" Mom shrieked. "What are you doing here?"

"Get out of here, Robyn," Dad said quietly, holding my face in his hands. "Go get help."

"I'm not leaving you." I replied, grabbing him in a hug.

He hugged me back and glanced at the door were Benny and Smalls still stood in shock. He mouthed "Get help" at them, but neither moved.I let go of Dad and turned around to face Mom, keeping my body between him and her.

"What happened to you, Elenore?" the pistol lowered to point at the floor as she stared at me in shock. "Why are covered in mud and bruised?"

"I got in a fight and fell in the mud." I replied sharply, not caring if I got in trouble anymore.

"A fight?" the pistol fell to her side as she stared at me in horror. "Elenore, how could you?"

"Easy." I shrugged, my eyes glaring daggers at her. "A bully picked on one of my brothers and I stepped in with the rest of them."

"Brothers?" the pistol raised slighty, but she didn't point it at me. "You mean this filthy man has _sons_?"

I gave a small, fake laugh.

"As if!" I replied coldly. "I'm talking about my friends who are like my brothers."

The pistol raised again, pointing at the floor in front of me.

"Move Robyn." Dad ordered, trying to push me out of the way. "Get out of here before you get hurt!"

I planted my feet firmer and refused to move.

"Now tell me what is going on and why you're pointing a gun at my Dad!" I ordered.

"This...this...demon is divorcing me!" Mom cried out, the pistol raising until it was pointing at Dad and me. "He's trying to seperate us, Elenore! He's trying to take you away from me again!"

"Again?" Dad roared behind me as he unsucessfully tried to push me away. "You left her with me, Meredith! You left her! I didn't take her from you!"

"Shut up!" Mom screamed as she shook the pistol slightly. "You shut up! Move away from that demon Elenore!"

"You're the demon!" I shouted back.

Mom looked like I had slapped her. The pistol shook in her hands, but she didn't lower it.

"He's trying to tear us apart, Elenore." Mom repeated, her voice cold and deadly. "Now step aside so I can rid us of this demon once and for all."

"I am not stepping aside!" I spoke just as coldly as her. "If you want to kill Dad, you have to kill me too."

"We're getting away from this miserable place, Elenore." Mom started as if I hadn't spoken. "We can live the life we want. A life of money and shopping and all the big cities of the world. What could be better then that?"

"Me staying here with Dad and my friends and you getting out of my life forever." I snapped. She really was crazy if she thought I would want that!

"You can't mean that, Elenore." Her eyes were narrowed, cold, deadly.

"My name," I said slowly, stressing each word,"Is Robyn."

Mom screamed and I saw her finger squeeze the trigger.

"No!" Dad shouted.

I felt the bullet hit my chest, felt the pain, the excrutiating pain as the fire spread across my chest and throughout my body. I felt myself falling, heard the pistol boom again, and the world went black.


	23. Chapter 23: 911

_**I own nothing but Robyn and her parents.**_

_Chapter 23: 911 _

"Thanks." Robyn smiled when Smalls told her why they weren't going home.

She opened the door and froze after one step inside. Benny and Smalls looked at each other in confusion before stepping in beside her. They froze as well when they saw her Mom pointing the pistol at her Dad.

"Dad!" Robyn shouted as she ran forward.

Benny reacted quickly, but he wasn't fast enough and his outstretched arm grabbed nothing but air. Robyn was already in her father's arms as Benny brought his arm back and just stared at the pistol in the mad woman's hands.

"What's going on?" Benny whispered to Smalls.

"I think she's going to kill him." Smalls replied back just as quietly.

"Why though? Has Robbie mentioned anything about this to you?"

"No."

Neither boy's eyes left the scene in front of them as they talked. Even when they saw Mr. McCallister mouth for them to get help, they stayed rooted to the floor, to shocked and curious to move. It was like they were in a trance as they watched the scene unfold before them.

"What happened to you Elenore?" Mrs. McCallister asked, the gun lowering and pointing at the floor. "Why are you covered in mud ad bruised?"

"I got in a fight and fell in the mud." Robyn replied back sharply.

Benny and Smalls glanced at each other, slightly scared. The only time they had heard Robyn talk in that tone was when she was angry and about to beat Phillips up. With a mad woman with a pistol in front of her, they knew this couldn't end well. Especially if her Mom had a temper like Robyn.

"A fight?" the pistol fell to her side as Mrs. McCallister stared at Robyn. "Elenore, how could you?"

"Easy." Robyn was glaring at her Mom and her voice was icy cold with barely contained anger. "A bully picked on one of my brothers and I stepped in with the rest of them."

"Brothers?" the mad woman spit out in disgust, the pistol raising a little more. "You mean this filthy man has _sons_?" She spit the word sons out like it was a cuss word.

"As if!" Robyn replied. "I'm talking about my friends who are like my brothers."

Benny and Smalls knew she was pushing it as the pistol raised again, though it still wasn't pointing back at their friend. They glanced at each other again, fear in their eyes, before turning back to watch the scene.

"Move Robyn!" Mr. McCallister, fear in his voice, tried to push his daughter out of harms way, but she refused to be moved. "Get out of here before you get hurt!"

Benny flinched, remembering how she had taken it when he had said words very similar to those. Robyn just planted her feet more firmly on the floor, keeping her body between her parents.

"Now tell me what is going on and why you're pointing a gun at my Dad!" she ordered, ignoring her Dad's continued attempts to move her.

"This...this...demon is divorcing me!" Mrs. McCallister cried out, the pistol raising until it was pointed at Robyn's chest. "He's trying to seperate us, Elenore! He's trying to take you away from me again!"

"Again?" Mr. McCallister roared, giving up momentarily on pushing his daughter away. "You left her with me, Meredith! You left her! I didn't take her from you!"

"Shut up!" The pistol shook in the woman's hands and Benny and Smalls held their breath in fear. "You shut up! Move away from that demon Elenore!"

"You're the demon!" Robyn shot back without a thought.

The look on Mrs. McCallister's face was one of pure shock, but it was quickly replaced by one of pure anger and hatred.

"He's trying to tear us apart, Elenore." Her voice was cold and deadly, sending shivers up Benny and Smalls' spines. "Now step aside so I can rid us of this demo once and for all."

"I am not stepping aside!" Robyn's voice was cold and full of hatred, with no trace of fear. "If you want to kill Dad, you have to kill me too."

Benny and Small's gasped when they heard that. They stood frozen, fear radiating from them as they continued watching.

"We're getting away from this miserable place, Elenore." Mrs. McCallister ignored her daughter's outburst. "We can live the way we want. A life of money and shopping and all the big cities of the world! What could be better then that?"

"Me staying here with Dad ad my friends and you getting out of my life forever!" Robyn snapped.

"You can't mean that, Elenore." Mrs. McCallister had a look of determaination mixed in with her hate and anger.

"My name," Robyn spoke slowly, making sure her Mom heard her clearly. "Is Robyn."

Mrs. McCallister let loose a loud, ear piercing scream and didn't stop even as her finger pulled the trigger.

"No!" Mr. McCallister shouted .

Benny and Smalls' felt their breath catch in their throats as they watched the smoke come from the pistol and saw Robyn start to fall.

"Robyn!" they shouted, concern for their friend unfreezing them.

They ran forward into the room as Mr. McCallister jumped over his daughter's body and charged at his wife. The pistol boomed again, the bullet going wild and hit th wall just behind Benny's head.

The two boys hit the floor and grabbed at the body of their friend. They turned her over and saw, to their horror, a small hole in the right side of her chest, bleeding heavily and turning her muddy dress a dark red.

"We have to stop the blood." Smalls exclaimed breathlessly as he grabbed his friend's limp hand.

Looking around, Benny saw a curtain on the floor were it had fallen a few feet away. Hurrying to his feet, he went the few feet and grabbed the curtain. He straightened up and started to turn back to Smalls and Robyn, but he was stopped when his eyes caught sight of her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. McCallister were wrestling over the pistol that was still cocked and loaded in the mad woman's hands. She was screaching and kicking and clawing at her husband, who kept grabbing her gun hand in an effort to keep it pointed at the ceiling. With a curse, she bent her head and bit his arm holding her wrist. With a yowl of pain, Mr. McCallister released her arm and the gun fell and boomed once more.

Benny felt a pain in his head as he saw the smoking gun pointing in his direction. He felt the blood running down his head, felt himself hitting the floor, then all went black.

"Benny!" Smalls shouted as he saw his friend fall, blood pouring from his head.

Smalls looked up to see the elder McCallister's still fighting over the pistol. With a deep breath, Smalls let go of Robyn's hand and hurried over to Benny. He grabbed the curtain out of his limp hand and sighed in relief when he saw that Benny was still breathing and that the bullet had just barely skimmed his head, just enough to cause a lot of bleeding and to knock him out.

Tearing some of the curtain, Smalls quickly wrapped it around Benny's head twice to slow the bleeding. The gun boomed again, hitting the floor directly beside Benny's head. Glancing around frantically, Smalls saw the overturned coffee table and dragged Benny behind it, praying it would keep him safe from stray bullets.

Grabbing the rest of the curtain, Smalls hurried back to Robyn and, folding the curtain several times, pushed it against her chest and kept the pressure on it, praying the bleeding would slow and that the bullet hadn't hit her lung.

Smalls looked back up, one hand keeping pressure on Robyn's wound, the other grabbing her limp hand. He fearfully watched as the McCallister's kept fighting over the pistol. Mrs. McCallister was still screaming and kicking at her husband who had gotten behind her and held her arms tightly. Her head was thrashing, her feet coming off the floor as she vainly kicked at her husband.

Then the hand holding the pistol started to turn toward him and Robyn. Tearing his eyes from the barrel, Smalls grabbed Robyn's arms and dragged her to the side until they were hidden behind the overturned couch. The pistol boomed again, and Smalls saw the bullet hit where he and Robyn had been just seconds before.

"Let me go you..." Mrs. McCallister started screaming and cussing her husband who didn't let her go.

Smalls knew he had to call and get help, but he was scared to death to leave the safety of hte couch. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he looked around and saw the phone across the room near the door. Risking a glance at the fighters, he saw that the pistol was pointed at the ceiling once more.

Getting to his feet, he took off at a run and grabbed the phone and dialed 911 as fast as his fingers would let him.

"911, what's your emergancy?" the operater asked calmly.

"There's been a shooting," Smalls expained quickly, "Come quick! Two of my friends have been shot and the culprit is still here."

"What is the address?" the operator asked quickly.

"189 Champion Lane. Bright yellow house, can't miss it."

There was a pause before the operator said the words Smalls would always remember with gladness.

"The police and ambluance are on their way. Just hold tight."

"Thank you." Smalls breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever the operator said was lost to Smalls as Mrs. McCallister screamed and the gun boomed twice more.


	24. Chapter 24: It All Ends

_**Two more chapters! I own nothing but Robyn and her parents. **_

_Chapter 24: It All Ends_

_Whatever the operator said was lost to Smalls as Mrs. McCallister screamed and the gun boomed twice more. _

The phone dropped from Smalls hand as he felt the bullet skim his arm before hitting the wall. Instinctivly, he grabbed at his arm and felt the blood trickling out of hte wound. He was grateful it was just a flesh wound, though, and that it hadn't gone further in and broken the bone.

Still grabbing his arm and the phone forgotten, he turned around and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw. Mrs. McCallister lay limp in her husband's arms, half of her face missing from where the bullet had entered and exited. Small's couldn't help but stare at the woman, dead by her own hand.

"Are you there? Are you ok? What happened?" He heard the frantic voice of the 911 operator, but he was frozen, his eyes staring at the body of Mrs. McCallister.

Mr. McCallister was just as shocked and frozen as Smalls. He looked down at the woman he had once loved with all his heart and, choking back tears for what could have been, he lowered her gently to the floor. Looking up and seeing Smalls' horror-filled eyes, Mr. McCallister quickly took his jacket off and laid it across his late wife's face.

"Where's Robyn?" his rasped, his voice low and full of fear for his only daughter.

That shook Smalls out of his stupor. Slamming the phone back onto the holder, he hurried back to Robyn's side.

"Robyn!" Mr. McCallister exclaimed, falling to his knees beside his daughter. "No, Robyn, no!"

Tears poured from his eyes as he pulled her limp head into his lap and stroked her muddy hair gently. He sat rocking her, one hand stroking her hair, the other holding hte curtain onto her bleeding chest.

Smalls bit his lip to keep the tears from coming to his eyes as he backed away and walked over to Benny. Gently peeling the curtain back, Smalls was relieved to see that the bleeding had slowed, though it still bled as scalp wounds would do. Checking his pulse, Smalls sighed in relief when he felt that it was still there.

Sirens could be heard as they pulled into the drive in front of the house. The police were first, pistols in their hands. They lowered them when they saw that their was no danger. The EMS people rushed in next, going straight to Robyn.

"Are you her father?" the man asked as he peeled the curtain back and flinched. Mr. McCallister simply nodded, tears pouring from his eyes. "She needs to go to the hospital now."

Gently prying Mr. McCallister away, the EMS brought in a gurney and quickly loaded Robyn onto it and out the door. One woman walked over to Benny and Smalls. Without a word to Smalls, she peeled the curtain back and looked at Benny's wound.

"He'll be fine." she announced as she reached into her back and brought out some bandages and started wrapping them around Benny's head. "Just a flesh wound. Who put the curtain on him?"

"I did." Smalls replied quietly.

"You did good." The woman praised. "Without that to stop the blood he could have bled to death. You saved his life."

The woman finished wrapping Benny's head and turned to Smalls.

"He should wake up within the next hour. Now let me see your arm."

Smalls obeyed without a word. The woman wrapped a bandage around his arm, saying it wasn't bad at all, then left to go help with Robyn. Smalls looked over and saw the police talking to Mr. McCallister, who explained what had happened, motioned to his wife's body, then hurried out the door to be with his daughter.

One policeman went to look at Mrs. McCallister's body while the other walked over to Smalls.

"Would you care to explain what happened, son?" the man asked gently, pulling out a notebook and pencil.

Smalls took a deep breath before explaining a quiet voice what had happened.

"Willie," the policeman called when Smalls was done. A young policeman walked over and waited for his orders. "Take these young men home. This one," he motioned to Benny, "Will have to be carried. They live just a few houses down."

Willie nodded and gently picked the unconscious Benny up and nodded at Smalls to lead the way. Still in shock, Smalls did as he was told. They took Benny home first, and Smalls had to explain what happened to the hysterical Mrs. Rodriguez. Once assured that Benny would be all right, she thanked Smalls repeatedly before finally letting him go home.

Smalls Mom and step-dad were already outside, frantically looking around for him. When they spotted him with the police officer, they calmed down some, though his mom refused to let go of him as she hugged him to her after he had explained.

"Can we go to the hospital, Mom?" Smalls asked.

"Of course." his Mom said quickly. "But shouldn't you call the rest of your friends and tell them what happened?"

He sighed as he went inside to call everyone. It didn't take long before he was in the car and on his way to the hospital.


	25. Chapter 25: What Happened?

_**I'm going to go ahead and applogize for in case this chapter isn't exactly realistic. I've never been shot, and I don't know anybody who has been shot so I don't know if the way I wrote this is entirely accurate. If it isn't, I'm sorry.**_

_Chapter 25: What Happened? _

I don't know how long I was out. I know I came to a few times, but not for long. I remember Mom shooting me, then a really bright light and voices, but that's it. When I finally came through completly, I had no idea where I was.

The room was bright white, clean, and there was a beeping noise as well as someone snoring. I started to sit up, but a piercing pain in my chest caused me to fall back down quickly and the blackness threatened to overtake me again. I fought against it, and it finally went away.

I laid there quietly, studying my surroundings a bit more. I finally realized I was in a hospital room and that the beeping sound was that heart moniter thing. I turned my head and looked down at my left arm before I had to look away again or else the IVs in my arm would make me sick.

I looked to my right and saw Dad sleeping and snoring, his head laying against my hand. I moved slightly and he jerked up. He blinked a few times before his eyes finally rested on me and a smile broke across his face.

"Robyn! You're awake! Oh thank God!" he cried, grabbing my hand in his.

"How long have I been out?" I asked with a smile.

"A week." He replied, the smile slipping from his face.

"A week?" I pratically shouted.

"You were shot in the chest, Robyn." he said quietly, rubbing circles on the back of my hand. "We didn't think you were going to make it, honey. The bullet was lodged right next to your lung. You were lucky it missed your lung."

I stared at him, shocked, though I wasn't sure why. I read westerns, I know how bad a chest wound is.

"Are you ok? Is Benny and Smalls all right? What happened to Mom?" I asked, my voice cracking from where it was so dry.

Dad took a cup of water from the table beside me and helped me drink before answering.

"I'm fine. Just a few scratches and bruises. Benny suffered a head wound and a small concussion, but he's all right now. Smalls got a flesh wound on his arm, but he's completly better now."

"What happened? How did they get hurt?" Even though he had assured me they were all right, I was still scared for my friends.

"You're Mom and me were wrestling over the gun. It went off several times. One bullet hit Benny. Smalls saved his and your's life by moving you two out of the way of stray bullets." A shadow crossed his face as he explained.

"What happened to Mom?" I asked quietly, scared of what I might hear.

"She's dead, honey." Dad answer quietly, still rubbing my hand. "After she shot at Smalls, she turned the gun on herself."

I bit my lip as I processed that. Yes, I hadn't liked her, but no one deserved to die, no matter what she had done to me and Dad.

"I'm sorry sweetie." Dad said quietly. "I tried to stop her."

"It was her choice." I replied just as quietly. "It's over now."

Dad gave me a small smile as the door opened and a nurse walked in.

"Oh good, you're awake." the woman smiled at me. "If you don't mind, Mr. McCallister, I need to run a few tests to see if we can take the IVs out."

Dad smiled at the woman and nodded, letting go of my hand.

"I'll be right back, Robyn. There are some people here who I'm sure want to see you."

He walked out the door as the nurse began her tests. By the time she was done, the IVs were gone and I was sitting up in the bed. I noticed that my chest was tightly bound in bandages, but there was no blood.

"We had to do surgery on you," the nurse explained as she tidyed up. "You were extreamly lucky. Just a centimeter more to the left and you would be dead."

"How long till I can leave?" I asked, hopeing she would say today. I hate hospitals.

"The end of the week." the nurse replied. "I'll go tell your friends they can come visit. They've been extreamly insistent on coming and sitting by your side all week. Especially the small one."

"Who?" I asked.

"I believe his name is Scotty." The nurse replied as she left. "Between him and, Benny I believe his name is, and your Dad, you haven't been left alone for a minute."

Then she was gone. A few seconds later, all the guys rushed in and surrounded my bed.

"Are you ok?" "What happened?" "Are you gonna die?" "Gonna die?" they all fired off questions at once. I laughed and waited for them to quiet down.

"I'm fine." I insisted. "I get to go home at the end of the week. And no, I'm not going to die."

I glanced over at Benny and Smalls. Benny had a small scar on his head, I noticed, and he was smiling down at me. Smalls had a small scar on his arm as well, but he wasn't smiling. His eyes looked haunted almost and I wondered what had happened to make the cheerful boy dissapear.

"What have I missed?" I asked.

They all started talking about the past week at once. I laughed again at their insistance of being the one to talk.

"One at a time!" I laughed. They all started talking again, before all blushing and shutting up. "You talk, Kenny." I said to Kenny, knowing he would talk talk quick and not waste words.

"Nothin' much." he started. "Everyone at school knows what happened. It was on the news and everything!" I flinched when I heard that. There goes my private life. "No one bothered any of us after a few days. Even Phillips kept his distance until yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" I asked when he didn't continue.

"Well..he..um..." Kenny stammered.

"He called you some bad names and said you were better off dead." Ham spoke up. Squints slapped him on the back of the head. "What?"

"You could have put it nicer!" Squints exclaimed, cleaning his glasses.

"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah added. "You didn't have to be so blunt about it!"

Ham just rolled his eyes and continued.

"So as soon as I'm better I get to kill Phillips. Yay." I said sarcastically, not really caring what the bully said about me.

"Benny and Smalls already did." Timmy announced.

"Already did." Tommy repeated.

"What?" I asked, looking over at Benny and Smalls, who each looked down, blushing in embarssment.

"We couldn't let him get away with what he said." Benny explained.

"So we kinda started another fight." Smalls finished with a small smile. "Definatly worth the week of detention."

I just stared at them. I coudn't see either of them starting a fight. Smalls was the level headed one, and it took a lot to get him worked out. Benny usualy waited for Phillips to throw the first punch.

"Thanks." I said, smiling back.

I wanted to ask what had happened after I left, to get Benny and Small's side of things, but I decided to wait till the others left. They all vistited for another 30 minutes before the nurse came back and told them they all had to leave. With a final good bye, they all started filing out of the room.

"Benny, Smalls, wait." I said before they could follow the others out.

I waited till the rest were completly out of the room started.

"Thanks for sticking up for me." I started.

"No problem." Benny smiled.

"You're our sister." Smalls added, a small, sad smile on his face.

"What happened after I got shot?" I asked, the smiles dissapearing from their faces instantly.

"We rushed over to you and I went to get a curtain to stop the bleeding while your parents were fighting over the gun. Then I got shot and was knocked out." Benny replied easily. "Hey, I hate to leave, but Mom is waiting for me. See ya."

"See ya." I said as he walked out the door. I turned and looked at Smalls.

"After Benny was knocked out, I stopped the bleeding on his head and pulled him behind the table. Then I put the curtain over you to try and stop the bleeding and pulled you behind the couch. I went to call 911 and your Mom shot me in the arm before..." his voice cut out and I saw his eyes glaze over.

I reached over and grabbed his hand without thinking. He shook his head and looked down at my hand.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah." he replied slowly. "It's just..."

"You saw my Mom when she shot herself, didn't you." My voice was quiet.

He simply nodded.

"I just can't forget it. Every time I close my eyes, I see her lying in your Dad's arm. It was horrible. No matter what I do, it's in my head. I see her everywhere I go."

"Don't let her ruin your life, Scotty." I started, using his first name for emphasis. "You have to move on. Try and forget. She was crazy, Scotty. She wanted to kill us all."

"I know. I've just never seen anyone die before." His eyes started to glaze over again.

"I'm sorry you had to." I squeezed his hand. "But don't let it ruin your life. You can move on, Scotty. You have to. I'm here if you need anything."

"Thanks Robyn." he smiled down at me, and I smiled back as I saw some of the haunted look fade away. He let go of my hand and started to the door. "See ya, Robyn."

"See ya."

I laid back and closed my eyes as the door closed. I couldn't wait for the week to end so I could get out of this hospital.


	26. Chapter 26: Back to Normal

_**All right! Here it is, the last chapter of Incognito! I hope ya'll have enjoyed the story and thank you to all who have reviewed and stuck with this even when I wasn't updating fast. You all rock! **_

_** One last thing before I end this story: If you have read any of my other stories and think I could have done a better job of writing them, please go to my profile and vote in the poll on what story you would like to see rewritten. Thanks! Now, onto the final chapter!**_

_Chapter 26: Back to Normal_

The rest of the week passed by excrutiatingly slow. Every other day, the guys would come by and visit. Dad stayed the entire time, having been allowed to take time off work. The day I was finally realeased couldn't come soon enough.

When I was realeased, Dad had to help me out because it hurt to walk due to the pain in my chest. It was Saturday morning when me and Dad went home. I wanted to go to the sandlot immediatly, but Dad made me go and rest for an hour before finally saying I could go.

Of course, being the overprotective Dad he is, he walked me down there. I was glad to find that the more I walked, the less the pain bothered me. I knew I couldn't play ball for another two weeks, but at least I could watch and be with my friends and be home and not in some hospital room.

The guys were playing ball just like I knew they would be. They hadn't noticed us yet.

"You can go on home, Dad." I told him. "I'll be fine. Benny and Smalls will help me home if I need it."

Dad looked like he didn't want to leave, but he gave in after a moment.

"You be careful. And if I hear that you've been playing, you won't be coming here for a week."

"I won't play!" I exclaimed.

He smiled, gave me a hug, and left. I slowly started to make my way toward the dugout, wondering how long it would be till they all noticed me. It didn't take long at all. I had just about reached the infield when they spotted me.

"Robyn!" they all shouted as they threw their gloves down and ran at me.

To my surprise, they all grabbed me in a hug. Not quite sure what to do, I laughed and hugged them back.

"Sheesh guys, let a girl breath." I laughed.

They all laughed as well and instantly started asking questions.

"You ok?" "When did you get home?" "When did you get home?" "When can you play ball?"

"I'm fine. I got home about an hour ago. And I can play in about two weeks, maybe more." I answered.

We all stood there talking for a few minutes before they went back to playing ball while I sat and watched from the dugout. I smiled as I realized how much I had missed this. Even if I couldn't play, it was still great to be able to watch. It also felt really good to be back in pants and a t-shirt. Dad had given all those cursed dresses away, something I was extreamly happy about.

We were there for about thirty minutes when a group of nine boys on bikes rode onto the sandlot, stopping the game immediatly. I frowned as I got up and slowly joined the guys in the middle of the field. I had hoped to avoid Phillips until Monday at school.

"So is the brat dead yet?" I heard Phillips asked and I knew he was talking about me.

I rolled my eyes and spoke up before anyone else could.

"Well if you aren't dead then I don't suppose the brat is."

Phillips' eyes narrowed angerily as I stepped forward and stood in front of him.

"What are you doing in those clothes, Birdie? Don't you know what a girl is suppose to wear?" he asked.

"Then why aren't you wearing a dress?" I taunted, crossing my arms across my chest.

The guys all burst out laughing, while Phillips just turned red.

"You're lucky you're wounded, McCallister." he growled. "Or else you would be begging me to stop hurting you."

"I think you've got it backwards, jerk." I replied. "It would be _you_ begging _me_ to stop hurting you."

"Get out of here Phillips!" Benny inturrupted.

"Why should I?" Phillips asked, turning to Benny.

"Because unless you want to get your face beat black and blue, you'd better get. We don't have time to put up with you."

Everyone gaped at Benny. I stared shocked. This wasn't normal for Benny at all. Usually it took longer to get him worked up. Phillips seemed to realize that he was treading on thin ice.

"This ain't over." he snarled as he turned his bike around. "Come on. It smells here."

They all pulled out, with the guys running behind them, kicking the tires and taunting them more. Everyone started to go back to their spots as they all laughed at the cowards. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Benny.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked nervously.

"Sure." I replied. "What is it?"

He pulled me over to the side out of hearing range from the rest of the guys. I waited, but he seemed to choke and didn't say anything.

"Yes?" I said, my arms still crossed.

"I was wondering," he said slowly. He took a deep breath before quickly saying, "Wouldyougooutwithme?"

"What?" I asked, not sure I had heard right.

"Would you go out with me?" he repeated, his face flushing red.

I stared at him in shock. I felt so bad as I answered him.

"I'm sorry, Benny. I like you, but not like that. You're like my brother. That's all. I'm sorry."

His face turned downcast for a second, before he shrugged.

"It's all right. At least I still got you as a sister." he smiled.

I smiled back and headed to the dugout, still shocked that Benny had actualy asked me out. Never before had anyone ever even come close to wanting to asking me out. I felt bad for turning him down, but what I said was true. I saw him as a brother, nothing else.

_That's because you like someone else._ Stupid voice in my head!

_Shut it. _I hissed silently. _I don't know what you're talking about._

_I think you do. _

_Shut up!_

The rest of the day passed by quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go home. Everyone walked slow to help me out, which I appreciated. My chest was really starting to hurt again and I couldn't help but hope it would stop soon so it could all go back to normal. Well, as normal as my life can be.

"See ya tomorrow, guys." Benny called as he hurried to his house.

"See ya, Benny!" Me and Smalls called back.

Me and Smalls walked on in silence, and I was surprised when Smalls didn't go on to his house and instead walked all the way to mine.

"You ok, Smalls?" I asked when we reached the porch.

"What?" he asked distractedly. "Oh yeah, I"m fine."

"You sure?" I asked unbeivingly. "Cause you walked right past your house."

"I know." Smalls took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I know that you're going to say no," Smalls said in a rush, "And I know Benny asked you earlier and you probably said yes so I'm probably wasting my time, but..."

He cut off.

"What is it, Smalls?" I asked, my heart beating fast.

"Would you go out with me, Robyn?" He asked, biting his lip as he looked down at his feet.

I didn't reply for a moment. I had said no to Benny because he was like my brother. Smalls is like my brother to, but did I like him more then that? Unconsciously, my feet started rubbing together.

"All right." I replied finally, surprising even myself. "I'll go out with you."

"You will?" Smalls' head shot up in surprise. "I thought you had said yes to Benny?"

I laughed. "Benny is like my brother. That's it. I said no."

He looked at me with a big smile on his face. "Ok. See ya tomorrow, Robyn."

"See ya tomorrow." I replied with a smile as he walked off.

The smile stayed on my face as I walked inside, glad for the first time that me going incognito hadn't worked. I smelled the burger's cooking and I sighed, glad that life was back to normal.


End file.
